Project X
by PsychedArtist
Summary: The Guardians are a government organization hell-bent on keeping the public safe from the Projects, unique individuals, such as Rosemarie Hathaway, who pose an immediate "threat" to civilian safety. But what happens when Rose and the other Projects are tired of living at The Academy? With the way the Guardians are acting, are they really a threat or the key to something more?
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, Guys. This will be my first fic that I have written. I'm not sure how long this will be or I will even continue it after this chapter. I'm sort of just testing the waters and taking the first step of publishing. I'm all for feedback, even harsh feedback, but keep in mind that it is my first story._

 _Hope you enjoy,_

 _Victoria._

* * *

The earth was silent.

The world was peaceful, like an afternoon stroll through the park. Except that there was no noise. No birds chirping or dogs barking. No child's giggle could be heard and the rustle of trees was eerily absent.

It was dead silent.

Even though it shouldn't have been. There were toppling skyscrapers, cracked streets, crushed cars, and broken families. Those that weren't dead were gently easing their bodies off the ground, stumbling through the rubble to find their loved ones. No one was attempting to find the source of the destruction.

The smoke filling the air alerting me to the presence of fire. One would expect to hear the distant sounds of a fire engine or the shouts of helpless people. There should have been noise, but all was silent.

The world was crumbling, and I was standing in the middle of it. Arms at my sides, calm and relaxed – sanity in the middle of chaos.

Is this what war is like?

Is it silent coping?

Is it demolished hope and leveled cities?

Or is this just life on a grander scale?

Slowly, the low hum of cracked buildings and ruined dreams returned to my ears. A high-pitched whine rang through my skull joining a deafening scream. It was gut-wrenching to hear.

I covered my ears, but the noise continued.

It was the sound of the universe splitting.

It was the symphony of tattered souls.

It was the music of devils.

It was the siren song of death.

It was me.


	2. Chapter 2

I'd always known I was different. Mom told me I got it from my father. Not that I would have known. My father left Mom for some stripper he picked up in the red-light district. Or that's what she told me, anyway. I had a feeling it was because he saw that I was different and he didn't want me. Mom and I did just fine on our own.

Mom said I was "unique" and that I should be proud my "natural beauty". I was unique, I had to give her that, but I wouldn't call my uniqueness beautiful. Sure, my flowing, dark brown hair and large, brown doe eyes were pretty, but not beautiful. Of course, the boys that used to trail behind me told me otherwise. I didn't think I was beautiful. All I could see was this _thing_ , this monster, that I was – am.

Intelligence is my only redeeming quality, in my opinion, and I could always see every side of any situation and almost immediately produce the correct answer. Mom said I was open-minded and a quick thinker. She used to tell me that I was perfect and made for a "greater purpose."

But that was before The Accident, before my life crumbled and my dreams turned to ashes at my feet.

When Mom was still alive and I was still a child, carefree and innocent.

Now, I'm just another Project, a possession, for the power-hungry government. Another budget cut that they don't know what to do with but are too scared to get rid of.

Sitting behind my foot-thick plexiglass walls, staring at a fixed point in front of me, I can still hear Dr. Whatshisface and Sir Whatever arguing about my "condition" and the "arrangement" of my future. They always spoke in terrible code in reference to me, believing that I was too ignorant to understand what they were talking about. They'd been discussing the topic for weeks now, not knowing how to handle me.

They feared me.

They had every right to be scared of me. I would be too if I didn't know I could control it.

"It" being me. "Me" being my powers.

Here, in this hellhole I call home, I am referred to as 'Project X'. Even my fake name sounds scary.

My real name is Rose. Well, Rosemarie, though only my mother called me Rosemarie. Rosemarie Hathaway. See, not so scary.

While awaiting the beginning of my very boring day, my mind drifted off to the land of possibility, to another world where I was free. A place where what made me unique didn't exist, and I was just a normal teenager doing normal teenager things.

When I stopped day-dreaming, my world was upside down. Literally. I was on the ceiling, just floating there.

' _That's a new one.'_ I thought to myself.

Levitating. Check.

My list of "unique conditions" was already long, and it seemed to just keep growing. Sadly, I haven't turned invisible yet or been able to walk through walls, but it's just a matter of time.

Just think of every superhero, or super villain, with weird or cool abilities, take their special abilities, throw them into one 5'6", eighteen-year-old girl, and you get me. If knitting was a superpower, I had it somewhere. It was in my mind, I just had to get it out. Easier said than done. However, the discovery of new abilities was coming almost weekly, now.

They are easier to control now than when they first appeared when I was four and my vision stayed in the "zoomed in" mode for months. It took three months and hundreds of nose bleeds to lift a piece of lint off the tip of my shoe, but now I could lift tanks without breaking a sweat. It took four years and three dining room tables to perfectly cut a sheet of paper using just my eyes, but now I could be the best surgeon in the world. It took six years to accurately read minds, but now I was a walking polygraph machine.

However, it took fourteen years to fully understand the ruthlessness and the determination the government has in order to keep any "threat" out of civilian life, but now I see no way out.

To them, I was a threat, and I had to be kept safely away from the public.


	3. Chapter 3

I've been here two years, others have been here longer. They call this place The Academy.

It is here in this compound that they keep all of the Projects, people like me who are special and different. They keep us hidden from the public, believing we pose a danger to society. Although, they do tell us it if for our own safety. If others found out what we could do we would be subjected to all sorts of torment as an abuse of our powers. I'm grateful that they keep me here where I'm safe from others and others are safe from me, but I hate not being able to live a normal life.

As one of their Projects, I have learned to live by their militarian lifestyle, no combat, though, just discipline and a strict schedule. Rules to follow and live by. They believe us to be too dull to retain information or too inept to comprehend what is being said. With most of the Projects this is true, there were a few exceptions, myself included.

I have the unfortunate ability to remember everything, I'm not sure it is one of my powers so I tend to exclude it from the list. It was helpful in school, trying to remember all the dates in history and formulas in math, but not when I want to forget my mother's face as she was practically torn in two as she protected me. Or the pale faces of the emotionless men creeping toward me, guns drawn, as I cowered in the corner crying. The thing is, I knew how to fight, I still do. I had the ability to free myself and my mother, but all I could do was stand there, shocked – frozen – and let the men sedate me before dragging me back here.

I try to not to think about that night. It's a horrible memory, sickening, really, full of regret and "if only's." The main one being "if only I had fought back…"

It was my fault.

It is my fault. It's my fault my mother is dead. It's my fault for being here.

We'd stopped for a few days to rest before continuing our run from the government. I'd let slip one of my abilities on a classmate who was attempting to feel me up, Jesse. Jesse had been trying for months to get me to go out with him. Due to my unique condition, I didn't think it would be wise to date a normal human. I'd tried once but I quickly realized it wasn't going to work. Since then I'd only tried relationships (dating or friendships) with the very few unique individuals I had come across.

After a few months, he got tired of waiting for me to say yes and decided to take matters into his own hands. If I didn't give him what he wanted, he was going to take it from me. He'd been staking out the girls' bathroom, waiting for me to be alone, so he could force himself upon me. That didn't happen, but apparently breaking a dick without touching it was impossible. Word got out after several doctors claimed his little pecker would always be crooked. Once word got out, the government came knocking. Mom sensed something fishy about the men and we ran.

They call themselves Guardians, I call them White Coats.

Yes, they do wear white coats – tacky, if you ask me.

They call us Projects, but I prefer the term 'Spirited.'

The only Projects left in this compound are those they deem to have shown "signs of intelligence." In other words, if you've spoken to your main researcher or other Projects you have shown a sign of intelligence. I haven't seen the remaining Projects in a few days, and I'm not sure who all is left, but our scheduled mingling session was to occur soon. I missed my friends, they're the best thing about being here.

Mason was already here when I arrived. His anger issues cause him to Hulk-out and it becomes even more problematic when you add possessive tendencies into the mix. He had thrown the car of the guy his girlfriend was cheating on him with into a building. No one was seriously injured but the next day he was ambushed, sedated, and brought here. He's better about controlling it, though he has seemed to take a liking to me which has caused some close calls. He's sweet – red hair, freckles, and light blue eyes. You would never guess that he possesses the strength of ten men.

Eddie was also here when I arrived, but Eddie's unique condition is pathokinesis, the ability to control emotions. I've never known Eddie to be upset about anything and he's only ever used his ability to calm agitation or bring joy. Yet, he had to have done something horrible to warrant his being here, though he has never told us.

The last of my friends is Christian, but I'm not sure if I can call him my friend. He got here six months after I did. He annoys the fire out of me, fitting because his whole thing is pyrokinesis. He's never used it on me directly but he has threatened me with it, forcing Eddie to step in and calm everyone down. Most of the time with us it's playful banter and witty sarcasm, but occasionally it escalates to more aggressive means of provocation.

Christian's abilities, he told us, had appeared out of nowhere. He believes it was in response to the stress of his parents being murdered in a robbery gone wrong. He'd tracked down the group of robbers and set their house on fire, burning them alive inside. He'd been running for a year before the Guardians caught him.

I'm the only Project that had more than one ability. I have yet to learn Eddie's or Christian's abilities, but I look forward to the day I can throw a ring of fire around Christian, see how he likes it. I have Mason's strength but not all his anger issues. Sure, I'm angry, but not like Mason. My anger is mostly toward myself. The few Projects the White Coats have come across that possess multiple abilities don't survive long because they can't control the power and the abilities end up consuming them.

The other Projects that don't show signs of intelligence have all let their abilities control them, frying their brains and making them unpredictable. The Guardians are slowly getting rid of these Projects. I doubt that they've done anything less than kill them, but one can hope that they have moved them to a livelier place.

The White Coats assume my multiple abilities stem from my genes. Apparently, I was the product of two other gifted people, which is impossible. My mother wasn't gifted. At least, I don't think she was. She would've told me, right? And I have no idea who my father is/was. Mom never talked about him other than to tell me he left and I never pushed to know more information about him.

I hide the extent of my intelligence and the strength of my abilities for fear that the White Coats will kill me. I speak enough to know they won't get rid of me, but not enough for them suspect I know too much. Not that they could actually kill me, I've died too many time to count. If they didn't kill me, or try, they'd start probing, again. I already hated being locked in a cage for all that pass study and observe, I didn't want more White Coats in here with needles, cuffs, and flashlights determining what makes me tick. They aren't gentle with their collection methods.

But then there is Dimitri. Just his name made me smile. He was my closest friend here at the Academy, ironic considering he is one of the men responsible for bringing me here in the first place.

Dimitri is the youngest White Coat to ever become a White Coat. Most are middle-aged men who constantly wore scowls that continuously carved frown lines into their stone hard faces. You apparently had to study for years to pass all the necessary tests and performance tasks before even being considered for the job.

Dimitri is approximately 6'7", with chocolate brown eyes, prominent cheek bones, strong jawline, gorgeously defined lips, wide shoulders, broad, muscular chest, and shoulder length brown hair, though he usually keeps it pulled back. He's twenty-four and his stature screams power and brute force, but he is a genius and an all-around nice guy. How someone as smart and kind as him wanted to work for the White Coats, I'll never know.

He's been assigned as my main researcher, and he is the only one who knows I'm somewhat intelligent. He doesn't know the extent, though. He keeps it out of his reports because he believes it doesn't make a difference to his overall conclusions about my health and well-being. I don't know why, though. Knowing how intelligent I am should be extremely important considering how much power I possess.

However, when I ask Dimitri why he doesn't inform the other White Coats he shrugs and responds, "They just don't need to know." The longer it has been kept out of the reports the more I wonder why, but I'm not going to keep questioning it. I'd have a lot more problems if Dimitri told the others. For now, I'm going to grateful.


	4. Chapter 4

"Good morning, beautiful," as always, Dimitri came in with his opening statement. My day was instantly made better when his deep, smooth voice reached my ears. Did I mention the Russian accent? Sounded like hot chocolate running down your throat on a cold winter's night, but I digress.

It's been the same for the past two years. He was the first person I talked to when I first arrived here, something about him felt familiar so I had no problems opening up to him. I still don't talk to the other White Coats, just Dimitri.

When he entered, he was looking down at his clipboard, as per usual, and didn't see me sitting on the ceiling, my now favorite place to be. There was something about the rush of blood to my brain that made it easier to think, and sitting upside down gave me a different perspective of the world, quite literally.

"I've just got to check your vitals and collect a blood sample and then I'll leave you be. It shouldn't take more than a few minu-" He cut his sentence short as he looked up from his notes and glanced around, finding no one. There was a flash of panic in his eyes and his body tensed.

I tried and failed to stifle a laugh. He looked up at me, letting out a sigh of relief before staring at me in disbelief. I gave him a small wave and a sly smile.

"How'd you get up there?"

"It just kinda happened. Here, let me show you." I laughed and before he could object I raised him to my level. He let out a short yelp as his feet left the ground and flailed in the air then proceeded to glare at me. Although, considering he was upside down, arms crossed and still recovering from the change in elevation, it didn't have the desired effect – I laughed, again.

"I've asked you several times not to use your gifts on me." Dimitri was the only one that called my powers "gifts". I called them a curse.

Ever since he discovered I could use telepathy, he made me swear up and down not to use any of my abilities on him, telepathy in particular. I've never used my powers on the White Coats, just with other Projects to show them what all I could do. I promised him, though I'm not sure why.

"I remember. I just find it easier to stay calm and relaxed up here so you can take accurate readings," I responded, batting my long, black eyelashes. "Besides, I'm not doing you any physical harm."

Dimitri was the sweetest guy I'd ever known. That's not saying much because I'd been in here for the past two years, and Mom and I had moved around a lot to keep me out of the papers and the government out of our hair. A great lot of good that did. Dimitri gave me an amused look and shook his head as he pulled his serious face back on.

"Understandable. However, could you please lower _me_ back to the ground? I feel it unjust that a 110-pound, eighteen-year-old miracle can lift a 220-pound, twenty-four-year-old me." I felt my face heat up in a blush, as I lowered him down.

 _'_ _Did he really think I am a miracle?'_ My teenage, normal-self reared her head and sighed dreamily. _'That's what he said! But what does he mean by that? Does he refer to the other Projects as miracles, too, or is it just me? I mean, he does call me "Beautiful," too. You wouldn't call someone beautiful if you didn't like her, right? Is that what this is? An attraction?'_ She kept rambling.

Soon my logical-self had her twin locked back in her ivory tower where she was unable to bother anyone. _'He's a White Coat, of course he doesn't think I'm a miracle, at least not a good one. You don't keep miracles in a cage to study 24/7. This is just a way to get you to trust him, but I trust no one. He needs data from me, not a relationship.'_ I reasoned with myself. _'However, this is Dimitri…It wouldn't be so bad to gain his attention, just a little bit…'_

I mentally glared at my logical-self for not staying on track.

"How are you today, Comrade?" I asked, still in my meditative spot on the ceiling, hair hanging loose, almost touching his head where he stood underneath me. He huffed when he heard his nickname.

"When will you ever stop calling me that?" He grumbled more to himself than to me, though I could hear the amusement in his voice. "I am well today and I've just come to see if you are in a similar state. So, if you would be so kind as to join me down here, I would greatly appreciate it."

"And what if I don't _want_ to join you, _Comrade_?" I teased, stressing his nickname. "It's not like you can make me." The corners of his mouth twitched slightly and laughter twinkled in his eyes.

"Oh, really? I suppose you're correct." His shoulders sagged in defeat, but his voice held mischief. "Well…I could always have them come sedate you, again." He threatened slightly raising an eyebrow. I narrowed my eyes at him. My glare was intense, one could feel the atmosphere of the room becoming more and more electric, causing the White Coats on the other side of the glass to ease closer to the panic button. His gaze was as intense as mine, not even fazed by my glare, and somewhere deep inside me I felt my heart begin to flutter.

 _'_ _What is happening to me? Get a hold of yourself, Rose!'_

One time! One time I stayed in deep meditation a little too long and didn't hear them calling me. Instead of throwing something at me to get my attention, like any normal person would do, they had to go and get the tranquilizer gun.

Rolling my eyes after a few minutes of some very intense glaring, I shooed him closer to the door so I wouldn't land right on top of him.

"It wasn't my lack of compliance that got me sedated, Comrade. It was a lack of intelligence from the White Coats." He smirked in victory and amusement as I lowered myself back down to the ground. "I don't even know why they needed me that day, but they kinda shot themselves in the foot by knocking me out."

Feet firmly planted on the ground and taking a few steps back, I stood ten feet away from him, against the far wall, as I did with all the White Coats. But this time it wasn't for their comfort: it was for mine. My heart was still doing its jive and it was really starting to annoy me. Never before has Dimitri's presence made me feel nervous, but something was happening and it wasn't normal. Along with whatever emotion was taking control of my body came fear: fear of the unknown.

"Come here." He motioned me to come closer, tapping his pen on his clipboard impatiently. I refused to budge, shaking my head and sinking further into the wall. "Fine then." He sighed in acceptance.

He quickly closed the gap between us and gently grabbed my hand pulling my arm forward. I felt my heart rate increase even more,

 _'_ _That's going to mess with my vitals,'_ I thought and my skin started to buzz. _'Add this to the list of new abilities…?'_ I questioned silently. _'But what did it mean?'_

My eyes flicked over to a White Coat who was still watching us. Dimitri rolled his eyes and dropped the wraparound curtain after giving the man a pointed look, blocking the view of any White Coat who felt the need to stare. They stared every time Dimitri came into my room, I didn't know if they were observing him or me. They didn't stare so intensely when it was just me, so I'm guessing that it was him.

"They're just jealous." He stated wrapping his long fingers around my small wrist taking my pulse, which was still high and rising, still. He raised an eyebrow, "Don't stress about it, you've nothing to fear," mistaking my elevated heartrate at panic and fear of the White Coats. "Hmm…maybe I should've let you stay up there."

"Why are they jealous?" I questioned, not correcting his assumption. "Do they stare at you when you aren't with me or are they just observing how you interact with 'The Freak?' They only stare when you're in here and I can't figure out why. It has to be you they are staring at, not me."

He frowned deeply. His eyes narrowed at my self-appointed nickname and he fixed his calculating gaze upon me. My heartrate, which was starting to normalize, decided to jump again.

"You are not a freak. You are a miracle. You're perfect, Roza, just the way you are. It isn't something you should be scared or ashamed of." He stated, completely ignoring the second half of my rant.

 _'_ _Yeah, right.'_ Mentally scoffing at him as he continued his assessment. _'You're delusional, Comrade, and since when do you call me "Roza?"'_

I used the time to study his face, hoping to find an emotion there to answer my question. Strong and stoic, Dimitri could never be described as less than perfect. I dare say that he might be perfection himself, but he was working for the White Coats. Even perfect things had their flaws.

His perfect face was blank of any emotion. He had on his stupid Guardian Mask: stone cold and emotionless.

When he was done taking my blood, he kept hold of my hand. The buzzing was growing more intense by the minute. I still didn't know what it meant. He looked me in the eyes and held my gaze. The intensity of it was staggering and shook me to my core, but the rest of his face remained passive.

He seemed to be studying me, that or he was trying to send me some coded message, one that I was dying to crack. I was tempted to use my telepathy to catch a glimpse of what he was thinking, but didn't want to risk losing the trust I've worked so hard to gain. Dimitri was the only White Coat that had any semblance of a heart, and I planned to utilize it to the max. Trust was the first step.

"You're more than they could ever hope to be, trust me." He whispered, finally, and with that he turned around and left. I stood there and stared at the door as it closed, unconsciously I floated back to my spot on the ceiling.

I felt a pain in my chest as my heart rate return to normal in his absence. I kept replaying his words in my head. As I did, I felt a heat rise to my cheeks. Was I really blushing at the memory of Dimitri calling me perfect? The answer was yes, yes, I was. A White Coat couldn't think that highly of me, could he?


	5. Chapter 5

For the next month, I stayed in the upper corner of my room. I came down to receive and eat my meals and when Dimitri came to do his assessments. Unless I was in a mingling session, I talked to no one, not even Dimitri. I sat in my contemplative corner and pondered the mysteries of my life. Well one specific mystery: Dimitri. And that's what he was, a mystery, one that I desperately wanted to find answers to.

The mingling sessions have become much more interesting, to say the very least. Eddie's abilities were being put to the test more and more, and Mason was fighting a losing battle with his rage. Christian, being the cause of the previous two statements, shocking, I know, was developing a short fuse. The stress of "downsizing" the compound was getting to him, and I probably wasn't helping by egging him on, but I couldn't help myself.

The White Coats had been getting rid of the Projects that failed to perform requires tasks on command to make room for more "dangerous" Projects. Those project that couldn't control their abilities were automatically sent away. Christian was very gifted with fire and I doubt he has ever failed one of the performance test. But they were getting rid of the Projects weren't that much of a threat. Of course, there was a hierarchy.

The Guardians label the Projects by letters in order of perceived threat. As you probably know, I was Project X, the biggest threat here. Mason was Project L; Eddie was Project C; Christian was Project P. If there is a Project Y or Project Z, I've never met them. There are only a few of us left, mostly those of us that came later in the alphabet and those whose powers were extremely strong, like Eddie.

Oh, and there were a few new Projects: Mia – Project D; Jill – Project K; and Lissa – Project G. None of them were dangerous, really, but all were powerful in their individual abilities.

Mia is pathokinetic, like Eddie. I remember a little bit of her from my time in the outside world. We bonded over our uniqueness and she was one of my few female friends. There aren't too many female Spiriteds. She found me shortly after the Jesse Incident. She'd seen me around school but didn't know what I could do. When word was starting to go around that I was some freak, Mia approached me with her secret and for a short time we sought comfort in each other. Relying on the other to assure us that nothing bad was going to happen to either of us. She started running shortly after I did, but she lasted longer than me.

She is short, blonde, with big blue doll-like eyes. It is kind of creepy if you ask me, but she was nice enough to me and everyone else, a little bossy, but nice. Surprisingly, Mason took to her like a duck to water. He was still as possessive as ever, but remained calm the entire time. Maybe a personal pathokinetic is exactly what Mason needs, or maybe it was just Mia. I know Eddie was there before her, but Eddie never managed to keep Mason this calm all the time.

Days after Mia showed up, word came through of a new Project that we met at the next session: Jill. She was shy. Coming in that first day to the large common room, her eyes were wide with fright and her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She is sixteen, the same age that I was when I first got here. I knew what she was going through. It took a lot of coaxing for her to share her ability. She is an atmokinetic. She pretty much controls the weather. It doesn't seem like much considering we're inside all the time and don't get to see the sun or sky, but when you want a thunderstorm or a warm gentle breeze, Jill is your girl. She seems to be warming up to us, Eddie especially.

After the first couple days being in the compound, Jill felt her emotions shifting dramatically every time she was around Eddie. Once she noticed it, she proceeded to accuse Eddie of manipulating her emotions and tried to hit Eddie with lightning. When he hid behind me, Mia rushed over and took responsibility for the change in emotions, claiming that she already felt the shift and just enhanced it. It didn't take much apologizing on Jill's part to have Eddie forgive her, but Mia had to do a little more groveling.

I was grateful to have Mia and Jill here now, though I hate that they, too, are locked up. It is tiresome to be the only female at The Academy and I appreciated both of them, but I was more grateful for Lissa.

Lissa was quickly becoming my best friend. She arrived on a day where Christian's threats to turn me to ash were swiftly switching to intentions. I was agitated with Dimitri and confused about the new power I possessed, but I'll come back to that in a sec.

Christian was poised and ready to attack, three balls of fire in each hand, almost like he was juggling one-handed, just waiting for his command. Suddenly, the room turned very cold and Christian's fire turned to balls of ice. He yelped as he dropped the balls in both surprise and pain, I turned to see a tall, thin blonde girl standing near the entrance, her jade green eyes fixed on Christian in an attempted glare. She seemed mad, but her angelic face didn't seem to possess the muscles to really look angry.

Christian whipped around, prepared to release his fury on the new comer only to stop short and stare, jaw unhinged in surprise. Lissa's face slowly lost any trace of anger and was replaced by slight embarrassment as Christian continued to stare, completely transfixed. Smirking at the interesting development, I stepped forward.

"Hi. I'm Rose and this hothead is Christian." I gave my most friendly smile to Lissa and she returned hers with enthusiasm. "Hey, Sparky, don't you know it's rude to stare?" I whispered in Christian's ear as I hooked my index finger under his jaw to close his mouth. Shaking his head as he broke his stare, he stepped toward Lissa, hand outstretched.

"Hello, I'm Christian." Lissa shook his hand but rolled her eyes at the reintroduction.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Christian, Rose. I'm Lissa, a cyrokinetic." That explains the whole cold and ice thing. The remaining Projects stepped forward to introduce themselves but soon the mingling session was over. Lissa and I were already bonding, chatting away like the two teenagers we were – are.

The last two sessions were spent chatting animatedly with each other while Christian sat off to the side staring at Lissa and glaring at me. Lissa might have been a cyrokinetic, but she acted more like my own personal pathokinetic. Only Lissa had the ability to make me happier in this horrible dungeon where we all lived. She was sweet and light-hearted. She never once complained about being locked up in The Academy with us. She claimed that it was better than being alone.

Her family had just recently died in a car crash, that's when her ability chose to make itself known. And it wasn't like she could hide the fact that she could turn things to ice in Florida. She had gone to her boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend, Aaron, for help and a place to hide, but he turned her over to the government as soon as they came knocking.

We talked about anything and everything. I told her my life story, from the time I first discovered my powers to right before she walked in to this very room. I even used telepathy to tell her about all of my abilities, at least the ones I could put a name to. I started becoming more and more excited as the day of a mingling session rolled around. Dimitri started to notice but didn't say anything.

That's the only thing I didn't talk to Lissa about: Dimitri. I was still trying to figure him out. I know she could probably help me figure him out, but I didn't want to start the conversation without a few theories. There was just something about him that made my body react in a way it hadn't previously, but I couldn't put my finger on it. And he wasn't helping matters by completely avoiding me.

After that first confusing visit a month ago, Dimitri came in every other day to take my vitals and collect my blood. The next week it became every three days. The weeks following it became a rare occasion I got to see Dimitri, they had different White Coats come in to collect their data, never the same one. I think they drew straws every morning…

I missed his laugh, his smile, his greeting, not the greeting that he uses now when I see him, but his original one that he had been using the past two years: "Good morning, Beautiful."

I started thinking back to all of my previous encounters with Dimitri, trying to find anything unusual that I had missed, but nothing had changed. Nothing about him had changed. Sure, his hair became longer and he'd cut it every couple of months and his muscles have become more pronounced, probably from working out more, but fundamentally he was the same Dimitri.

It must have been me, some new ability, the purpose of which was unknown to me and didn't seem to have a simple answer. To be fair, I've been changing pretty much every week. Two days after Jill got here, I created storm clouds in my room – on accident, of course. Just last week, I finally acquired Eddie's, and Mia's, ability. I'm hoping for Lissa's or Christian's next. Either would be useful when going toe-to-toe with Christian. Lissa had to save me a few times since she got here.

Not speaking to anyone, other than Lissa, I do as any White Coat commands me to do. I've become compliant, coming down from my corner when told, never making a fuss. Stuck inside my memories, I spend my hours thinking. Thinking about him. Thinking about what went wrong in the encounter, what was different, what was the same?

Why did my heart go haywire? What was the buzzing?

The Buzz.

I don't know what else to call it because that's exactly what it was: a buzz. The power, if it was actually a power and not just in my head, didn't really seem to do anything useful, just send a pleasant buzzing sensation through my entire being.

Since that day, I've only felt the buzzing a few other times. I feel the buzzing when he touches me, obviously, but it doesn't happen with any of the other White Coats. That was the weird thing, the buzzing didn't happen at random times or when touching random people.

The only other times I've felt the buzzing is when I touch other Projects.


	6. Chapter 6

Two months after the first sign of the Buzz, Dimitri was back on his regular daily visits.

Now, every day was the same, but a different same. Dimitri would come in with his, now, usual greeting and attempt to engage me in conversation. The first few times I didn't respond, he regarded me with a look that bordered on worry, but was quickly replaced with the stone faces that the other White Coats wore, his own Guardian Mask. After a week of me still not responding, he stopped trying to have conversations.

It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to him, quite the opposite, in fact. I had so many things that I wanted to talk to Dimitri about and so many questions I wanted to ask him. The Buzz was the main subject in almost all of the questions, but I couldn't figure out a way to phrase the questions.

"Good morning, Project X." He would come in scribbling notes, motioning me to the ground. As his hands worked to collect what he needed, the buzz was always present. I spent the few minutes I had with him thinking about what the buzz meant coming from him. I knew with the other Projects that the buzz signaled the presence of an ability. Most of the time, the buzz was slight, barely a hum, but with Dimitri the vibration resonated through my entire body.

I just couldn't figure out what it meant.

I reacted to him like I would another Project, only the reaction was magnified. Was Dimitri Spirited? That was the answer that made the most sense, but also the answer that made the least amount of sense.

If Dimitri was indeed Spirited, why in the world would he be working for the Guardians? If Dimitri was Spirited, how did the Guardian's not know about him? What could he do? How could he keep it hidden so well?

Maybe he wasn't Spirited. Maybe he's something different? That would kind of explain the much stronger reaction I have to him compared to other Projects.

I couldn't just ask him right out, though. I needed to find a way to make him tell me, but I knew that wasn't going to be easy.

"Have a pleasant rest of your day, Project X," then he would be out of the room.

Ever since that confusing day Dimitri referred to me as "Project X", that is what he sees me as – a Project. I should have known he'd never see me as anything other than that. Despite what he told me, Dimitri would always see me as a freak. There was something different about him, too, so if I was a freak, I wonder what that made him?

"What's going on, Rose?" Lissa asked for the seventh time in the past hour. "You keep zoning out. You're thinking about something and pretty intently, it must be pretty big. What is it?"

"It's nothing, Liss, just something I've been trying to figure out."

"Well maybe if you tell me about it I can help you figure it out faster." She perked up and folded her hands, ready to listen.

"No, Liss." Her smile turned into a frown," I'm going to try and get answers this week. If I don't have the answers when we meet next week, I'll get your opinion on the matter, okay?"

Her smile returned but it wasn't as bright as her previous one. "Of course, Rose."

"Sooo…what's going on with you and Sparky?" I asked deflecting attention back to her.

"What…what do…what do you mean? There's nothing going on with Christian and me," she finally pieced the words together, not meeting my eyes.

"Do you want something to be going on between Christian and you?" I asked saucily. I smirked as a blush crept over her face.

"Of course not. We're just friends, if that." She glanced longingly over to where Christian was talking to Eddie and Mason. Mia and Jill were playing with a mini tornado that Jill had created. Mia, though, was mostly trying to keep her hair from flying in her face. It was down to the seven of us, which was kinda great. Every session was like one big friend hangout.

"Liar." I muttered under my breath. "You know, Lissa, it's okay if you like him. He's not a bad guy, just a little hot-headed. Pun intended." I laughed as she rolled her eyes. "I think you two would be good together. You'd balance him really well, quite literally the ice to his fire. And it's not like he'd turn you down if you asked him out. Even a fool could see he's smitten with you."

She looked back at Christian. As if knowing she was looking, Christian looked over at us and caught her eye and waved. Lissa quickly looked back at me blushing as I chuckled.

"You really think he likes me?" She asked sheepishly after a few minutes of thought.

"Lissa. Trust me, I know." I said tapping my temple meaningfully. "Plus, you can see it in the way he looks at you, you'd have to be blind not to."

"Really?" I didn't answer her. I didn't have time as we were being collected by the White Coats to be escorted back to our rooms. "Christian! I'll see you next week." Lissa yelled to him as she walked out the door, waving at a wide-eyed pyromaniac. He just stared at the now closed door, grinning like an idiot.

I rolled my eyes as I exited the same door, walking between two White Coats I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Lissa and Christian. They were perfect for each other. I could already feel the love radiating off of them. I'm happy for them, of course, just jealous because they've found each other and I had no one.

 _'_ _Ugh! That makes me sound like such a teenager!'_

It was the same for Eddie and Jill, and Mason and Mia. They each had their significant other, thankful that of the remaining Projects the couples got to stay together. But I was the third wheel for all of them, so like the seventh wheel. It was getting harder to block out the intense emotions that swirled around the room. Affection was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. If Christian and Lissa got together, I doubt I would have any success.

When I got back to my room, I floated up to my corner. Reflecting on today's turn of events, I sighed.

 _'_ _I guess it's just me and my corner, now.'_

"Good morning, Project X." And so, it begins, another day of being "Project X." But today was different, though. Today, I wanted answers. The Buzz had started as soon as he stepped into the room.

"Good morning, Dimitri." I called down to him.

"It seems that we are talking today, then." He actually seemed surprise to get a response from me, though his expression betrayed nothing.

"I wanted to ask you a question."

"Then ask." He didn't even glance up to see the two of me sitting above him. A new "gift."

"Do you ever feel different? Like there is something more to you? Like a secret you want to know but just can't make sense of all the signs?"

He froze for a split second, shoulders tense and the feeling of panic flashed in the room. He quickly recovered himself.

 _'_ _I'm on the right track, at least.'_

"No, not really. I suppose that you have felt this way?" Smart move on his part, steering the questions away from himself. I rolled my eyes but humored him anyway.

"Nah, I know I'm different, but I don't feel it. You can probably tell just from me being here that there is something more to me, or something wrong with me," he nodded along absent-mindedly, still not looking up. "Of course, even I don't know all my secrets, yet."

I split myself a few more times, we sat in a circle above Dimitri's head as he kept writing, noting his observations.

"Why'd you become a Guardian, Comrade?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, you just don't seem like you fit in with the other White Coats. You seem better than all of this – better than them."

"I feel like this is where I could be the most useful." I studied him a few minutes before asking my next question. His body language was tense and clearly screamed "back off," but I kept going. All of my heads turned to stare intently at him, careful to gauge his response to my next questions.

"Do you have secrets, Dimitri?" We all asked him in a tone that suggested we already knew.

He stopped writing. His brows were furrowed and his lips a thin line. He was thinking, probably more about the fact that my voice came from six different sources instead of the one.

Putting his pen down, he looked up at me. His eyes widened more and more as he took in each of me. He'd fully interpreted the question I'd asked and how I asked it. Coming back full circle, a mixture of emotions danced in his eyes.

Fear being the most prominent, but he wasn't scared of me. I knew he had a secret, but now was the time to figure out what it was. I probed his mind, hoping to find answers I knew he wasn't going to say aloud.

 _"_ _She knows. How could she know? I hid it so well. I need to get out of here."_

"I forgot something I need for the tests today." He lied to me and I narrowed my eyes, but he wasn't looking at me, any one of me. He was backing up toward the door shaking his head, repeating _"I've got to get out of here, she knows. I can't believe she knows. What will she think of me?"_

"I'll be right back." With that, he turned around and practically ran out of the room and down the hall.

I combined myself and sat in the middle of my room, waiting for him to come back, even though I knew he wasn't coming back. At least he wouldn't come back today.

I was right, he never came back that day. In fact, he didn't come back any day that week. The White Coats marked that week as him being "sick." It would've been a valid excuse except for the fact that in the two years that I have known Dimitri he has _never_ been sick, not even with a cold or seasonal allergy. He's never even a papercut or a hangnail!

I pondered what he words could've meant as they played on a loop in my head.

 _"_ _She knows. How could she know?"_ I didn't _actually_ know anything and even if I did, why was he so scared? What could he be hiding from me that was so bad as to cause him that level of fear? At least I knew he did have a secret that he was keeping from me.

After gaining one answer, I had so many others. I needed Dimitri to come back so I can ask him. There's nothing for him to be scared of, at least not from me. Didn't he know he could tell me anything? It had to be something big for him to react in the way he did, but I couldn't think of one explanation that made sense. Only one thing ran through my mind all week:

 _"_ _I hid it so well."_

What could he be hiding?


	7. Chapter 7

The next week, with my questions still not answered, I had to talk to Lissa. We were sitting on the ceiling of the common room so that the others wouldn't overhear us. This wasn't something I wanted other people to hear, I wasn't even sure if I wanted Lissa to hear it. But she wasn't leaving me much of a choice.

"Start talking, Missy. I can tell from your expression that you didn't get the answers you wanted." Lissa sat with her legs crossed and her arms folded across her chest, one finger impatiently tapping on her upper arm.

"Alright, Liss," I took a deep breath. "It's about Dimitri, my main researcher.

"Go on." She replied.

"There's something different about him and I was trying to figure it out, but I can't. I was trying to be sneaky about my questioning but then he got all evasive and practically bolted from my room and now he hasn't been back all week. I don't know what I said to make him so afraid of me, but he kept thinking _'She knows. I have to get out of here,'_ " I imitated his deep, accented voice. "I'm scared I did something wrong but I don't know what it could be. I don't know anything! And now Dimitri's gone so there's no way that I'm going to be able to figure it out. Now I have to deal with this Buzz and what if the other White Coats start to notice I have more powers than are listed on the reports? What happens when they figure out that I'm more than I say I am? What happens when they discover it was Dimitri that helped me hide all of it? I just don't know what to do, Liss, and I'm kinda freaking out." The words rushed out of my mouth and by the end I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Umm…okay. Maybe you should start from the beginning?" Lissa tried piecing together the information I'd given her.

"Oh, right, sorry. Well, you know Dimitri, right?" She nodded. "He's my main researcher. While other White Coats have had two or three Projects in their care, Dimitri has only ever had me. With our downsizing everyone just has one, now. He became a Guardian not two days after I arrived. I don't know why they would assign such a dangerous, high-level priority to a brand-new Guardian, but I'm thankful that it was him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I can do a lot more than I let on. Like, a _lot_ more. It's really kind of O.P. Dimitri has kept the majority of it out of his reports. If I have a particularly strong ability he lists it, but if it isn't potentially dangerous or exceptionally strong it's like it doesn't matter to him." Lissa's look turned speculative.

"He could get in a lot of trouble if the other Guardians were to find out." I nodded vigorously. "Then why would he do that?"

"That's the thing: I don't know. But every time I've asked him he says, _'They just don't need to know.'_ But, of course, they need to know, they're White Coats! They want to know everything."

"Maybe that's it. They _want_ to know everything, but this is something that they don't _need_ to know," supplemented Lissa.

"Dimitri is a White Coat, too, right? Why hasn't he shared his knowledge with the others? I get that he was new here when he first started observing me, but that doesn't change the fact that he's been here for two years now and _still_ hasn't told anyone. Don't get me wrong," I said holding my hands in front of me in a defensive gesture, "him not telling anyone has kept me out of a lot of trouble, but I just don't understand why he would protect me like that."

"Well, what if he's doing it for himself?" Lissa's smiled.

"What could he possibly gain by keeping this to himself?" I frowned.

"He gets to keep you to himself. He's the only White Coat that you actually let close to you, maybe he's scared that if he starts making really detailed reports that you'll stop trusting him."

"Why would he need my trust?"

"Well, maybe he likes you. Like, _likes_ _you_ , likes you. Did you ever think of that? He can't really start building a relationship without your trust."

"It's crossed my mind, Liss, but not for long. It doesn't make sense. He's a White Coat, for God sake! And if you haven't noticed, I'm a Project."

"Yes, he might be a White Coat and you might be a Project, but he is also a man and you're a beautiful girl. It all adds up if you ask me. Boy meets beautiful girl. Girl is different. Boy tries to make Different Girl feel less different. Boy falls in love with Different Girl."

"Liss, that made no sense and you're getting off base." I stated flatly.

"Fine. I know it didn't and I know I am, but why else would he keep secrets from the White Coats? Why wasn't he assigned to any other Project? If he doesn't come in, who collects the data?"

"Well, it's never been the same White Coat in the weeks that he's been gone. I have a feeling, though, that they're drawing straws to see who gets to deal with me that day." I grumbled. "Liss, he's been gone all week. He left because I was questioning him about something and I guess I hit a little too close to home. He left, and he hasn't come back." Lissa looked even more confused.

"What were you questioning him about?"

"It has to deal with one of my new abilities." I answered vaguely.

"Pathokinesis?"

"No."

"Duplication?"

"No."

"Atmokinesis?"

"No, if we keep going like this we'll never get to the point. I discovered it before you got here, and I haven't told anyone about it yet."

"What does it do?" She looked intrigued.

"It's a Buzz, like a hum, only it's over my entire body." I gestured to all of me.

"Okay, no offense, but that seems like a lame ability to me."

"It would be if I could just do that whenever, but it only happens at certain times. It only happens when I'm in contact with another Project. I suspect it would do the same thing if I encountered any Spirited."

"So, what does this have to do with Dimitri?" Lissa asked, trying to make the connection.

"Well…I feel the Buzz when I touch Dimitri. The last time I saw him, the Buzz actually started when he entered the room, I wasn't even touching him at the time."

"Wait, you're telling me that you only feel this…this Buzz when you touch other Spiriteds. Okay, I can accept that, but why does it happen when you touch Dimitri?" Her eyebrows drew closer together and I let her draw the same conclusions I did. Her eyes widen in shock, horror, and…optimism? "Unless Dimitri is also Spirited."

Her smile grew and something about the look in her eyes made me uneasy.

"Why aren't you freaking out about this, Liss?"

"Do you know what this means?! Dimitri is Spirited and he has been looking out for _you_. You and you alone! He's scared you're going to think he's some kind of freak because he's working for the Guardians even though he's one of us. That's why he ran, he didn't want you to know the truth! He cares what you think of him. He _likes_ you!"

 _'_ _Not this again. I thought we had moved past this…'_

"Even you have to admit that's a little far-fetched. Who would I be to judge him if he is one of us? We don't even know what the Buzz means. Correlation does not mean causation." I retorted sternly, trying to get that idea out of her head before it gave me hope.

I wouldn't mind if Dimitri was Spirited. If he did in fact like me, which I'm not saying he does, it would be easier to fall for him knowing that he and I were similar. But if Dimitri _is_ Spirited, why is he working for the Guardians and why is he only helping me? Not that I don't appreciate it, but there were other Projects that could've used his help more than me.

If Dimitri was Spirited, how could he hide it from the Guardians. The screening process to become a Guardian was so lengthy and strict, even with Dimitri being a genius, there is no way he could've hid his abilities from the Guardians. What kind of ability did he have? Is it more than one? Highly unlikely.

 _'_ _He hid them from you. If he could hide them from you, he could hide them from anyone. The only reason you noticed was because you got a new ability."_ I hate it when my subconscious is right.

"Project X!" A voice pulled me out of my inner turmoil. "Get down here!"

It was Stan Alto. He was in charge of all the main researchers and was one himself. While he usually assigns each one to a specific person, his superior could always assign someone else. When I first got here, he assigned himself to be my main researcher. Something about a Project with so much potential and he was hoping to get a promotion when he finally made me crack. Two days later Dimitri showed up and took his place, and Stan was not at all happy about it.

"Coming, Guardian Alto." I called down and began my descent, bringing Lissa with me. I stopped a few feet away from him and looked at him expectantly.

"I've got some good news for you, Project X." From the look on his face the good news was more for him than for me. "You have been selected to be the test subject for a new program we're thinking about implementing. If the trial run shows significant results, we'll put the other Projects through the same process you will be going through. You will be put through various tests to see where the limits of your abilities are. Because you have more than one, we can test different methods that are targeted to a specific ability."

"What kind of tests?" I asked hesitantly.

"Both physical and mental tests. We're going to administer vast amounts of stimuli to your body and see how you respond. We've taken the list of documented abilities that Guardian Belikov has provided from his observations and are currently creating tests suited for each individual power you possess. If we come across another ability while testing, we'll test that one after we go through the others. You'll be in the lab for most of your waking day, other than these social visits, of course, and we will be pushing your body to its limits. Think of it as training."

"So, basically you're going to torture me." I stated while crossing my arms over my chest.

"If it helps for you to think about it that way, then yes. But we like to think of it as furthering our research." His grin stretched across his face and held a sort of malice, the likes of which I've never seen before. "I'm _very_ much looking forward to seeing how you do." I flinched as he turned and walked out of the room.

When I turned around the remaining six Projects were eyeing me warily, waiting for my outburst, but none came. I could feel their fear, both for me and for themselves. If I survive these torture sessions and whatever results satisfy their criteria, they were going to be tested, too.

The fear I had for my friends was more than the fear I had for myself. They come first. I had to show them I wasn't effected by Stan's words and I wasn't scared of the "training." So, instead of lashing out, I simply closed my eyes and floated back to my spot on the ceiling. No one tried to talk to me, and I didn't try talking to anyone else.

There was no saving me from the torture that would no doubt start tomorrow. I had no way of getting out of this and no Dimitri was here to hide me from what is to come.

I could feel my powers rise to the surface all at once. My body was responding to the threat that was just made against me, but I have no idea how my powers would be useful against torture. Physical torture I could handle, probably, but mental torture? I don't have a power that allows me to battle my own mind.

It didn't matter. I had to find a way to complete the tests with minimal damage to myself, but fail to give them the results they were looking for. But I didn't know what results they were looking for.

I didn't know what to do. I doubt any of my friends would know what to do. But Dimitri would. Dimitri would know what they're looking for and help me figure out a way to beat them at their own game. That's just the kind of guy he is. If he didn't help me because I asked, he would help me to save my friends. He was always there for me, even when I didn't need him to be there, but I don't know where he is now.

Without Dimitri here to help me, we were doomed.


	8. Chapter 8

I found Dimitri.

Any sign that our previous encounter had happened was wiped from his face. He was standing in the middle of the lab, testing the equipment that was going to be used to torture, I mean, train me.

So, yeah. I found him, but he wasn't going to help me out of this one.

"Hey, Comrade. Are you going to be 'training' me today instead of Stan?" I found it easier to think of these tests as training exercises rather than torture sessions.

"Guardian Alto is not going to be training you at all. I will be administering all of your tests, as I am your main researcher."

"Could've fooled me…" I muttered under my breath. If Dimitri heard me he chose not to comment.

"We're going to start with the physical testing, starting slow and then working up to the harder stuff. After we do the physical tests, we'll move to the mental. Any questions?"

"Wait, is it just you and me? No one else is observing us?" I felt more nervous thinking about being alone with Dimitri then about completing these tests.

"Is that going to be a problem?" His intense gaze fixed on me, sending me so many messages and a silent question: "Forgive me?"

"Not at all." I nodded, answering both his questions. He visibly relaxed and released an audible sigh.

"Well then, Beautiful, let's get started." He gave me a dazzling smile and motioned me over to a treadmill. "We're going to start with endurance testing. You're going to start running, at whatever pace you feel comfortable at, and you're going to run until you can't run anymore."

I nodded along and stepped onto the treadmill. Dimitri started pulling out all sorts of wires and I eyed them with caution.

"I've got to hook these up to you so I can monitor your heartrate, blood pressure, and breathing patterns."

"Umm…alright? What do I need to do?"

"Well…umm…I need access to the spot right above your heart…" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and a blush crept up to his cheeks. "So, umm…you're going to have to remove your shirt."

"Oh, okay. No problem." I took off my shirt to reveal my black sports bra. I smirked as Dimitri visibly and audibly gulped as he took in my attire. "See something you like, Comrade?" I said cheekily.

 _'Oh, I see lots that I like…'_ He thought as he stepped forward to start attaching me to the machine.

 _'You_ must _have heard that wrong. You're imagining things.'_ I told myself. I felt a blush coming and I fought so hard to keep it off my face. I don't think it worked.

"Are you ready?" Dimitri asked after he'd finished with the wires.

"I was born ready." I hopped back onto the treadmill and started to jog. As I worked up to a running pace, Dimitri sat at the desk off to the right of the treadmill, pulled out a book, and started reading. "Whatcha reading there, Comrade."

"It's a book, Roza. Have you ever read one?" He replied saucily raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Surprisingly, I have, though not since I got to The Academy. They don't like us to be too intelligent, you know?" I replied finally setting a comfortable running speed. "What kind of book is it?"

If I was going to be running this long, at least I could talk to him. I'm going to try to steer clear of any topic that might lead to questioning what he was. I did want to know more about him, though. He spends all his time observing me and getting to know anything about me that might help his research, but I know next to nothing about him.

"It's a western." He looked sheepishly back down at the book. It seems that he might have been teased about it in the past.

"Fancy yourself a cowboy, Comrade? Do you identify more with the outlaws or the bounty hunters?"

"I like to imagine myself as an outlaw trying to escape the overbearing force of the law." Interesting.

"It seems like you're on the wrong side of that equation. You've been wrangling outlaws for the past two years. I couldn't imagine you being one yourself." I laughed. So much for steering clear of touchy topics.

"In another life, I would've been just like you." He got a faraway look in his eye. "Powerful. Fear-inducing. Extraordinary."

"Just like me? Or would you have different abilities?" I chose to ignore the adjectives he used to describe me.

"I would've had some of the same abilities and some different ones."

"What abilities would we have had in common, Comrade?" I was curious, he technically brought up this part of the conversation.

"Telepathy, telekinesis, pathokinesis, thiriokinesis, and duplication."

 _'Hmm…more than one Dimitri…I could get used to that.'_ Dimitri choked back a laugh and tried to cover it with a cough. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What abilities would be uniquely you?" I asked, choosing to ignore his spontaneous laughter.

"Let's see…well, I'd have umbrakinesis – the ability to manipulate darkness. Potentikinesis – the ability to manipulate other's abilities. Metallokinesis – the ability to manipulate metals. And vita-mortokinesis – the ability to control life and death."

"Those are some very specific abilities. It seems that you've put a lot of thought into what it would be like to be different." I commented approaching the ten-minute mark. "If you had those, abilities you'd be Project Z, for sure." I laughed with mirth.

"Nah. Project Z is already assigned, though we don't really know where they are."

"What do you mean? How can you assign a letter if you don't have them here to know what they can do?"

"Well, it's my understanding that they were here for a time. Apparently, a few Projects managed to escape about twenty years ago. A few Projects died in the escape attempt. After that, the Guardians became a lot more strict and a lot more cautious with their Projects."

"Who were the Projects? Obviously, Project Z, but who else?"

"Project Z and Project V helped to get Project Y out and got out with him, but the previous Project X and Project W died in the process. Project O also got out. As far as I know, about two years ago, before you and I got here, they found Project V but there was no way to bring her in, so she was killed. Project Z and Project O are still missing."

"They haven't found the most dangerous Project to ever exist?" I asked, baffled.

"No. He was particularly skilled in neurokinesis and invisibility, but his joy was in pyrokinesis." He told me while shaking his head. "That's how he got the Projects out."

"Neurokinesis? What's that?"

"It's basically compulsion. It's the ability to manipulate thoughts. You manipulate someone's thought into them wanting to open the gates and you pretty much have a free pass to anywhere you want. They haven't come across another Project who possess that specific ability."

"That would come in handy." His head whipped around to where I was still running. "Don't worry, Comrade, I'm having too much fun here with you to even think about escaping."

"Wait, have you been having neurokinetic tendencies?" He actually seemed hopeful that I might answer yes.

"No. But I'll let you know when I can start manipulating Stan into being nicer." I laughed. He studied me for a bit longer, determining if I was telling the truth or not. He must have seen the truth because he went back to reading, and we fell into a comfortable silence.

I'd been running for probably two hours and my legs were just starting to feel a little stiff. At this pace, I'd be here for another four hours at least. I decided to put that time to good use and test the extent of my abilities that I could while still running.

First, telepathy.

 **"Hey, Comrade. Don't freak out, I'm just testing stuff."** Dimitri looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I gave him a small wave and a smile.

"What are you doing, Roza?"

 **"I'm testing some of my abilities. I'm gonna see if I have any that I'm not aware of and if so, I'm going to practice them."**

"Alright, but remember, not on me. That includes what you're doing now. Answer me out loud and not in my head, please." I gave him a sharp salute causing him to chuckle and turn back to his book.

I very gently picked his book up half an inch and turned the page. His glare came fast and intense.

"You said not to use them on you. You said nothing about not using it on your book." I pulled out his hair tie so his brown mane fell to frame his face. "Or your hair tie." His glare narrowed even more as I started laughing. I huffed, "fine."

Placing his hair tie in his hand and his book back on the desk I split myself into six different me's. I assigned each of them one of my known abilities: aerokinesis, atmokinesis, calokinesis, geokinesis, and hydrokinesis. The last one I set to self-discovery. She was going to dig deep and find any hidden abilities.

Dimitri looked warily at the multiple me's and monitored what each was doing.

"Does that not drain you?" He asked looking back to where I was still running.

"Nope. It takes a little concentration, but not a lot of energy." I answered. "However, I don't have a way to practice my thiriokinesis or my pathokinesis." We all turned to Dimitri, looking at him expectantly.

He gulped.

"Nervous, Comrade?" He turned back to the running me with wide eyes. "I already promised I wouldn't use you. Don't you guys keep rats or something to study?"

"Umm…no. We study the Projects."

"Then how am I supposed to test my abilities?"

"You could…well, you could use…me." He swallowed nervously. The other me's all turned to face me, waiting to see what I did.

"When did you all get minds of your own?" I asked them and they all rolled their eyes and started walking back to me to recombine. "Are you sure about this Dimitri?"

"Yeah." Sounding surer of himself. "Technically I'm an animal too and I do have emotions so I'll fit both criteria for testing your abilities. As long as you don't do anything inappropriate, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Well there goes my idea of getting you naked." I laughed at his shocked expression. "I was kidding, Comrade. I promise, nothing inappropriate." I said raising my right hand.

"Then, please, proceed." He stood and came to a stop in front of me.

I found shyness and sent it coursing through his body. His eyes turned from mine as he looked down and a blush was starting to make an appearance. I giggled as he tried to fight my control. The more he fought, and lost, the more I felt his annoyance and anger growing. I grabbed ahold of his anger and spread it.

His pupils dilated and his nostrils flared. His gaze quickly returned to mine and it sounded like he was growling. I quickly pushed the anger aside and replaced it with immense sadness quickly followed by elation.

I knew from experience that such a quick change of emotions was mentally taxing and physically draining. I needed him to lower his barriers. If he was weak, he couldn't keep them up. The last emotion I used was calm, and I kept it in place.

With Dimitri calm, I could start my work with my thiriokinesis.

I started by running his hands through his hair and watching it fall back down, framing his perfect face. I tucked one side behind his ear then stretched his arms as far to his sides as they could go. His gaze was fixed on my eyes, calm and trusting, but I was concentrating on each of his limbs as I moved them. I'd never manipulated a human, just animals, it took a lot more concentration because I had an active mind fighting me.

I brought him a step closer to me. I closed his eyes so I could study his face without being watched. I continued to move his arms and hands so he wouldn't get too suspicious. I brought him another step closer, with in arms reach.

I turned off the treadmill and stopped running so I could keep my full concentration on Dimitri. I opened his eyes and stared at him. We held each other's gaze, he was still calm and trusting. I was finding to courage to get answers.

Remembering our earlier conversation, I reach deep within him and found what I was looking for.

Power.

The specific power I found was familiar to me. I had Dimitri manipulate it, and before Dimitri had a chance to realize what was happening, there were three of him.

My eyes widened in disbelief while Dimitri's widened in horror.

We stared at each other for several tense minutes before I smiled in excitement.

"You do have secrets, Comrade."


	9. Chapter 9

"Rose. I can explain. This isn't what it looks like." He said while the other two hims were looking back and forth between us.

"Really? Because it looks like you are Spirited." I asked raising an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest, silently challenging him. The one to his right mimicked my position, Cheeky Comrade.

"Okay, well, it's exactly what it looks like. But it's not what you think." He held his hands out defensively. The one on his left also began to justify himself, but I held up my hand – stopping him, Cherubic Comrade.

"I think that you've infiltrated the Guardians to keep a very special Project safe and away from those who want to do her harm." I said after filtering through his mind. "I also think that you were put up to the task by one of the Projects that you told me escaped, probably Project Z."

"Umm…okay, then…it is exactly what you think." He eyed me cautiously. "Are you mad?"

"Not in the slightest, Comrade. I'm actually kind of relieved."

"You are? Why?"

"It means that I'm not crazy." All three of them eyed me suspiciously.

"Why would you have thought you were crazy?" His eyebrows furrowed together. Cheeky Comrade looked bored and Cherubic Comrade looked sympathetic.

"The Buzz." I simply stated.

"What Buzz?"

"The Buzz when I touch you. Well, you and any other Spirited." I answered, the two Comrades shared a knowing look and looked pointedly at Dimitri. Neither of them had said a word yet, and I would guess that Cheeky Comrade would be the first to add some sarcastic comment.

"I told you this girl would figure it out." Cheeky Comrade told Dimitri while examining his fingernails, looking unperturbed and relaxed. Cherubic Comrade looked a little annoyed at Cheeky Comrade's statement and a little uncomfortable with the entire situation.

"And I told you that I had more time. She shouldn't have been able to control my abilities like that. She showed no signs of potentikinesis. I would have known." Dimitri argued with himself. It appears that they have had these kinds of sessions before.

"Don't get upset with him, it isn't his fault, nor is it yours. She is extraordinary, isn't she?" Cherubic Comrade looked at me with adoration. I gave him a dazzling smile and he blushed. "Perfection."

Dimitri pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration at the two alter-egos.

"Could you two please leave?"

"We're not going anywhere." They both replied. Dimitri groaned.

"Here, let me try something." I concentrated and split myself into my alter-egos: Rosemarie and Rosie – good and evil. They both looked at each other and then at me. I gave them a pointed look and glanced at the two Dimitris. They looked back at each other and then took in the multiple Dimitris in front of us.

Rosie smirked at Cherubic Comrade, placed a hand on her hip, pointed her index finger at him and beckoned him forward with said finger. Cherubic Comrade gave a loud gulp but followed her wordlessly. I raised an eyebrow in Dimitri's direction, but he was watching Rosie and Cherubic Comrade with a hint of jealousy.

Rosemarie gave her best glare to Cheeky Comrade as he silently appraised her, letting his gaze run all over her body.

"Don't even think about it, mister." Her glare faltered as he took a step toward her. She started backing away, shaking her head. With each step that she took back, he took two forward. Soon she was running from him but didn't get very far before he picked her up and went in search of a quiet corner.

"Yeah, umm…sorry about them. They can be a handful sometimes." Dimitri nervously rubbed the back of his neck not making eye contact, as I laughed at the other us's. "So, how did you control my power? Or do you have potentikinesis? How did I not notice?"

"Not that I know of, but when I was using thiriokinesis, I found your power and made you use it." I told him. "You already possessed the ability to use it, I just made you. I didn't manipulate the power, I just manipulated you."

Dimitri stared at the floor in quiet contemplation as he thought through the information I provided him.

"I hope Cheeky Comrade doesn't corrupt Rosemarie." I stated absentmindedly, watching Rosemarie looking very uncomfortable with Cheeky Comrade's blatant flirting. "Who knew you could be such a player, Comrade. I also hope for your sake, that Rosie doesn't break Cherubic Comrade." I glanced back at where Rosie was using her natural charms in a provocative manner. Cherubic Comrade was in a world of novelty and I don't think he was going to come out of this encounter with very clean thoughts.

Dimitri chuckled.

"So, you name your alter-egos, too?" I nodded. "Dimka went with…Rosie, was it? And Big D took, quite literally, Rosemarie, he's a cocky SOB, but he shouldn't do too much damage. As for Rosie and Dimka…I don't think she can do that much damage, can she?"

"If you think that, Dimitri, you've never met Rosie. She's very gifted in her own sense, if you know what I mean." I said winking at him. When he paled and turned concerned to the pair, I laughed. "What's wrong, Comrade? Never had a girl hit on your alter-ego before?"

"Not one like you." He answered, then hastily questioned, "Do you think you could control my powers again, but without using me?" He asked, diverting the conversation.

"I can try? How does potentikinesis work? What does it feel like?" I straightened myself and focused on his chest as if I could see his abilities just below the surface.

"It's pretty much the same thing you did just now, except instead of making me use the power, you use it yourself. It'll feel a little different because it's a borrowed power, so it won't be as strong, but someone with your power should be able to use it almost as well as the Spirited you're loaning it from." I nodded along.

I decided to stick with the duplication since I already knew what that felt like. Dimitri had been using it longer than I had so his should've been more powerful than mine. The power I feel when I use his ability should feel more powerful than when I use my own ability. I closed my eyes and searched for Dimitri's presence.

He wasn't hard to find, easy, in fact. It was like I was drawn to him. I noticed Dimitri's energy was different from any of the other times I felt him, this time there was more power.

"Did you do something just now? I can feel you easier and you feel more powerful."

"I'm no longer masking my abilities from you, so it should be easier for you to find my specific energy, no matter where I am."

That being said, I focused more on his energy. Some parts of it were familiar to me, that was just his life force I'd grown accustomed to over the past two years. The other parts were foreign. I assumed most of the foreign energy were his abilities, at least the ones I didn't know about. I sifted through the familiar energy until I found an energy that was akin to my own.

I opened my eyes and found Dimitri studying me intently.

"What would you like me to do? I've found the power, but I don't know which one it is. It's familiar to me, but we have a few abilities that we share."

"Bring it to the surface, but don't do anything with it until I can tell you which one it is." He instructed me and I complied. "That's thiriokinesis." I guess I wasn't going to be using duplication, it shouldn't matter either way. His power was stronger than my own, he's had more practice.

I looked around at the other two couples. Rosie was seated in Dimka's lap, and he looked entranced by her. Rosemarie was backed into a wall where Big D's palms were place on either side of her head. I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to Dimitri, he was still studying me, but I chose to ignore him.

I took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his power, again. I focused the power on Big D right as his head was starting to bend further toward Rosemarie, she looked shocked at what was about to happen.

 _'_ _There is no way that you, Rosemarie, are kissing Dimitri before I get the chance.'_

I took the power out of Dimitri and channeled it through myself. His power was much more powerful than my own and it caused Big D to stumble back a couple steps, instead of my intended pulling away. He looked around stunned. He looked up at Rosemarie, but she shook her head at him and pointed over at Dimitri and me.

"Really, Dimitri?" He yelled. "I was an inch away. You couldn't wait just one minute?"

"Dude, it wasn't me. Blame her." He said pointing to me. Big D's eyes narrowed at me and I glared at him. "So, you do have potentikinesis." Dimitri said, addressing me again. "And it appears that there isn't much power lost in the transition. That's good to know. I think it's time that we put ourselves back together. We're probably going to be done for today, though we will have to redo the running because I know you could've gone for longer."

As I turned back to Dimitri I heard Big D huff and start shuffling over to us. I looked over at Rosie and Dimka. He looked at Dimitri with a pleading look in his eyes and his arms tightened around Rosie. She gave me a victorious look in response to his actions.

"Come on, girls. Dimitri's right." Rosemarie quickly ran back to me, grateful to have an excuse to leave Big D, but Rosie lingered a little longer and leaned in to whisper something to Dimka. His eyes grew wide. She winked at him as she got off his lap and sauntered over to the rest of us. Dimka stared at her, mesmerized, as she walked away. Rosie laughed at the way he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"What did you do to him?" I hissed in her ear.

"I said 'Maybe next time we can go somewhere more…private,'" She smirked at me. "Then I may have 'accidentally' brushed my hand over his crotch."

"You're unbelievable," I muttered under my breath. Without another word, I combined myself. I looked back at Dimka who was still sitting there, shell-shocked.

"What did she do to him?" Dimitri asked.

"What did she do? Really? You can't tell from the way he's sitting what she did to him? Really, dude? When's the last time you got laid?" Big D quipped then held a hand out to silence the response. "Wait, I already know the answer to that question. It's been a while."

"I can't wait for you to be back inside me." Dimitri grumbled.

"That's what she said…" Big D chuckled as he walked over to Dimka and started pulling him back to us. Dimitri's face looked pained and he groaned.

"Are you alright, Comrade?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, just wanting these two to stop bothering me."

"You do realize that they are you, right?" I chuckled.

"Sadly." He grumbled in response just as Dimka and Big D reached us, Dimka looked much more responsive. I gave Dimka a sensual smile and he gulped, frozen mid-step as his eyes travelled my body. "Could you stop that? Can't you see he's still getting over the last you he encountered? You're going to break him!"

"It's not my fault you haven't prepared him for a female's advances." I defended myself. I gave Dimitri the same sensual smile and he, too, gulped and I laughed. "So, it's not just Dimka that hasn't been prepared. You should know something about us females, Comrades: when we want something, we don't hold back, at least, I don't."

"I can tell." Dimitri combined himself and it was finally back down to just the two of us, no other us's to contend with. "Can I walk you back to your room?"

"If you wouldn't mind. I don't want them to think I'm trying to escape."

"I don't mind at all, Roza." He stepped aside and motioned me toward the door. All in all, I think this training thing was going to be a lot more fun than I first thought, especially if Dimitri allowed Dimka and Big D to come out and play. This could be good for the both of us.

"Do you think that now, since I know your big secret and all, we might be able to practice our abilities together? I'd like to know how much I can do." I asked shyly. "They don't really give us a lot of chances to improve, you know?"

"I think that would be a wise idea. I'd love to see what else you've been keeping from me, and I suppose I could return the favor and show you what I can do."

"Deal."

"Then training starts bright and early in the morning." Dimitri stated as we approached my room and he opened the door for me. He smiled down at me. "Goodnight, Roza."

"Goodnight, Comrade." I said as he closed the door, locking me inside. I sighed as I got ready for bed, a lot more hopeful about this training than I was twenty-four hours ago. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.


	10. Chapter 10

**Dimka's POV**

She was gorgeous.

The only thing that made it better was that there were three of her.

They were all having a silent conversation before they nodded to the goddess in the middle. The one on her right smirked at me.

 _'_ _Oh no. She's looking at me. What do I do?'_

She pointed one of her delicate fingers at my chest and beckoned me forward. I could do nothing but swallow my growing desire and follow her. Everything about her was mesmerizing. I could hear the voices of Dimitri and Rose, but the angel before me prevented me from understanding any of it.

She grabbed me by the lapels of my coat and pushed me down in a chair in the far corner of the room.

"My name is Rosie." She stuck out one of her perfect hands and I stared at it for a moment too long before I realized she was introducing herself. I would've continued to call her Angel. There was no way that someone as perfect as her could be anything but an angel.

I quickly recovered myself and shook her hand. When I touched her a pleasant jolt shot through my being and I stared at where my skin touched hers.

"I – I'm…Hello. I'm Dimka." I fumbled out. _'Idiot. Now she's going to think you're an imbecile.'_

"Mmm…It's a _pleasure_ to meet you, Dimka," she purred as she sat down across my lap. I froze as she put her arms around my neck, crossed her legs and fixed her hypnotizing gaze upon me. The impure thoughts that started flooding my mind were surprisingly erotic.

I couldn't tear my eyes from hers. She was the most enticing creature that ever could've existed, and she would be the death of me. I could already feel myself growing aroused and she really hadn't done anything. I actually felt fear for what this Dark Angel could do. But I knew I would love every second out it.

"So, Cherub, let's get to know each other." She breathed in my ear and I shuddered as a shiver went down my spine.

"What do you want to know, Angel?" I stuttered out when I gained control of my body. I tried to keep my voice steady and show that I wasn't as effected by her presence as I was. The laugh that emanated from her was the best sound that I had ever heard. There was a pounding in my ears and I vaguely recognized it as my heartbeat.

"I don't think you know me at all, love, if you think that _I_ am an angel." Her eyes glittered with amusement, the rich brown sucked me in and prohibited me from answering her. I wanted her like I've never wanted anyone before.

 _'_ _Get ahold of yourself, Dimka. Don't you see she is a seductress, sent to corrupt you?'_ A voice sounded from the back of my mind.

 _'_ _But I wouldn't mind being corrupted by her. She's the epitome of a devil in disguise, but she really is an angel.'_ I countered.

"You could be the Devil himself for all I care, but you will always be an angel in my eyes." I finally spoke. My arms wrapped around her waist on their own accord, she was still sitting comfortably across my lap. Her small frame fit against mine perfectly.

She blushed. Like an actual blush, that I caused. I felt pride flood through me and it just made me what to see what other reactions I could pull out of her. I tightened my arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

Her blush disappeared and was replaced by a devious smirk. I gulped and paled. I think I made a mistake.

"You're very comfy, Cherub," she said innocently, well as innocently as she could while wiggling her perfect butt in my lap. I felt myself react to her movements and I'm sure she felt it, too. "Though you do have more clothes than I would prefer on a man such as yourself."

"A man such as myself?" I questioned, trying to divert the blood back to my brain.

"Yes. A man of your stature and build shouldn't hide behind clothes. I think you should just let go and let it all _hang out_." Her pointer finger ran from the base of my neck to the waistband of my jeans. She hooked a finger through one of the belt loops and pulled herself to where she was pressed up against me. My breath hitched in the back of my throat as she leaned closer to my face.

I noticed Dimitri and Rose looking over at us. I plead with my eyes for more time, and I unconsciously tightened my grip on Rosie's waist. Her face turned triumphant as she looked about at Rose.

"Come on, girls. Dimitri's right." Rose called out. Rosie threw a smirk over her shoulder at Rose and turned back to me.

"Maybe next time we can go somewhere more…private." She whispered in my ear. As she slowly climbed off my lap she ran her hand down my chest and firmly across my growing budge.

I was spellbound to the sway of her hips. The way her hair flowed down her back, ending right before the curve of her ass that sat atop toned thighs and powerful calves, was so entrancing. If I didn't know it already I would've sworn she was an angel.

My Angel was soon taken from me, but Rose was still here and she was exactly like My Angel, probably less manipulating, though. I continued to stare at the space Rosie had occupied seconds before. I became aware that Big D was pulling me back to where Dimitri and Rose had been having their conversation.

As I approached them, Rose gave me a sensual smile and I froze again. She _is_ just as manipulative as Rosie. I took in her perfect body, just like Rosie's, well obviously. I'm liking that Rosie plays more of a part in her personality than Rosemarie does.

"Could you stop that? Can't you see he's still getting over the last you he encountered? You're going to break him!" Dimitri scolded Rose.

"It's not my fault you haven't prepared him for a female's advances." Rose defended. I saw the same sensual smile she had given me spread across her plump lips, but this one was directed at Dimitri, he had a similar reaction to me. Her laugh was just as stimulating as her smile. "So, it's not just Dimka that hasn't been prepared. You should know something about us females, Comrades: when we want something, we don't hold back, at least, I don't."

"I can tell." That was the last thing I heard before I felt myself slipping. I hope Dimitri lets us come out and play more often.

 **Big D's POV**

Oh, God!

There were three of them! I swear I'm in heaven!

Dimka quietly followed after Rosie like a lost puppy.

 _'_ _Good luck, dude. She seems like she's going to be a handful.'_

I looked back at the other Rose. She was just as sexy as the other two, but she was different, somehow. She was more pure. I wanted her. She was attempting to glare, but her face wasn't used to the expression. The longer I gazed at her the less her glare became.

"Don't even think about it, mister." She said as she took a step back. I wanted her pressed against me. I took a step forward, she took one back. Before I knew it, she had turned to run from me, but I was determined to have her. I lunged for her and grabbed her around her waist.

There wasn't really anywhere too private in this lab, so I took her toward the wall by the door, far from Dimka and his Rose and Dimitri and his Rose. My Rose was still struggling against me as I set her down next to the wall.

"I'm Big D. What's your name, Temptress?" I asked huskily, cocking an eyebrow.

She followed the movement as she studied my face and took in a shallow breath. I smirked at the effect I had on her and inched closer to her. Her back hit the wall and she was cornered.

"My name is Rosemarie, and I would appreciate it if you could take a step back. You're kind of popping my bubble." She stated and stood up straighter, challenging me. Well if anything, it made me want her more.

"That's okay, we can share _my_ bubble." Her eyes narrowed in annoyance and I chuckled. "Don't look at me like that, Temptress. It _does things_ to me."

Her eyes widened in surprise and a blush was creeping onto her beautiful face. I placed one palm beside her hand, easing my way into things as not to scare her off.

"My name is Rosemarie, Casanova, and I really need you to back off." She whispered breathlessly. My other palm came to rest on the wall opposite my other, efficiently locking her into place. She was going to be mine. I needed her.

"I'm sorry, _Rosemarie_ , I can't let you go now. Now without kissing you first." I lent my head down slightly. "Just one kiss."

Next thing I knew, I was stumbling backward away from My Temptress. I looked at her in shock but she just shook her head and pointed to where Dimitri and Rose stood.

"Really, Dimitri?" I yelled. "I was an inch away. You couldn't wait just one minute?"

"Dude, it wasn't me. Blame her." He said pointing to Rose. I glared at her and she glared at me.

 _'_ _Goddamn, attractive woman, making it hard to stay mad at you.'_

"So, you do have potentikinesis." Dimitri said, addressing Rose again. "And it appears that there isn't much power lost in the transition. That's good to know. I think it's time that we put ourselves back together. We're probably going to be done for today, though we will have to redo the running because I know you could've gone for longer."

I turned back to Rosemarie.

"So, it appears our time is up, for now." She let out a sigh of relief. "Beware, Temptress, next time I see you, you're mine." I gave her a wink and shuffled back over to Dimitri.

"Come on, girls. Dimitri's right." Rosemarie quickly ducked under my arm and ran back to Rose, but Rosie lingered a little longer and leaned in to whisper something to Dimka. His eyes grew wide. She winked at him as she got off his lap and sauntered over to the rest of us, it appears that they are all temptresses. Dimka stared at her, mesmerized, as she walked away. Rosie laughed at the way he shifted uncomfortable in his seat as I mentally chuckled.

These girls were going to be the death of us.

"What did she do to him?" Dimitri asked after Rose had combined herselves.

"What did she do? Really? You can't tell from the way he's sitting what she did to him? Really, dude? When's the last time you got laid?" I quipped then held a hand out to silence the response, knowing what was coming next. "Wait, I already know the answer to that question. It's been a while."

"I can't wait for you to be back inside me." Dimitri grumbled.

"That's what she said…" I chuckled as I went to collect Dimka from his comatose-like state. I heard Dimitri groan at my antics.

Rose gave Dimka a sensual smile and he gulped, frozen mid-step as his eyes travelled her body.

"Could you stop that? Can't you see he's still getting over the last you he encountered? You're going to break him!"

"It's not my fault you haven't prepared him for a female's advances." She exclaimed. The same sensual smile crossed her face. Dimitri, too, gulped and Rose laughed. "So, it's not just Dimka that hasn't been prepared. You should know something about us females, Comrades: when we want something, we don't hold back, at least, I don't."

"I can tell." That was the last thing I heard before I felt myself slipping. I hope Dimitri lets us come out and play more often.


	11. Chapter 11

I was jolted awake by the sound of my door creaking open. I jumped out of bed, looking for a place to hide, but in my sparse room there wasn't anywhere to conceal myself. The bed didn't have enough space under it for me to hide, and the table on the far side of the room was blocked by the light filtering in from the open door. I settled on the corner on the far side of the room. They'd have to jump over the bed before they could get to me, but I was literally backing myself into a corner, giving myself nowhere to go.

I sank further into my chosen corner, willing myself to go unseen in the still darkened room. The light from the doorway penetrated the room further and further as the door opened slowly, inch by inch. My heart was beating so fast and loud I was sure whomever was at my door would be able to hear it. My body was on high alert, ready to take on any intruder, though I'm sure I'd be in trouble later, even after I explained I was defending myself.

A hand slowly hooked around the side of the door, gripping the edge and easing it open, like in a horror movie. The light that was coming in from the hallway was interrupted by a massive, looming shadow. The figure peered around the door finding the room silent and crept their way into my room, closing the door silently behind them. While there was some light I tried to identify the man, but his face was clocked in shadows, making identification impossible.

I heard the intruder take a few deep breaths. It sounded like they were breathing in a smell more than to consume oxygen. I heard a rustle of clothing shifting as the person moved. They turned the lights to their lowest settings so the room was filled with a very dim light, just enough to see by but not enough to draw attention from out in the hallway.

The light revealed Dimitri just as his piney scent reached my nose. I gave a small sigh in relief and allowed my body to relax from its tense position. He was looking around the room, he seemed to be searching for something. When he didn't find it panic filled the room and his heart started slamming into his chest. The noise was like a jackhammer and I worried it might be doing him bodily harm. I observed him silently, curious about the shift in demeanor.

"Roza!" He whisper-yelled.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?!" I stared at him in bewilderment. Was he blind? I pushed away from my corner and walked closer to him. His head followed the sound, but his eyes did not focus on me. It was like they were seeing through me. I stopped when I was directly in front of him.

"I'm right in front of you, Comrade." His eyebrows drew together and looked at me, but it was like he wasn't seeing me. I looked down at myself, but I was still here.

"Roza, I don't see you." My head whipped up to stare into his eyes, they were still focused on my general location, but not on me. I turned toward the closet door where a full-length mirror stood. The only thing I saw being reflected back at me was Dimitri's towering form.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." I smiled deviously. Taking a tentative step closer to where he stood. His lips thinned into a straight line and his eyebrows lowered.

"I can't see your face, but I imagine I won't like the look that's on it."

"You're probably right." I took a step closer to him and placed a hand in the center of his firm chest. He jumped at the sudden contact, not that it was sudden. I was moving slowly, but since he couldn't see me, I suppose it was sudden for him.

 _'He's warmer than I thought he was going to be. That or I'm just cold.'_ I was pleasantly surprised by the heat that spread through my entire body. I trailed my hand slowly up around the back of his neck. I gave him the chance to stop me, but he didn't. I pulled the elastic band from where it held his hair back and ran my fingers through his long locks. _'It's just as smooth and soft as it looks.'_

"Not that I don't love what you're doing, Roza," he started huskily as he followed my invisible arm up my shoulder and down to my hip. His other hand took up residence on my other hip, his touch was like a flame, igniting my desire for him, "but I would much rather see and feel you, rather than just feel you."

I blushed and waited until I felt it fading before willing myself to be seen.

"There you are." He looked down at me and gave me a warm smile. I blushed again.

 _'Damn, I've got to get this under control.'_ His smile grew at the sight of my blush which made me blush more.

"Is there are reason you're breaking into my room this late at night?" I asked, he still hadn't let me go, and I wasn't going to protest.

"Oh, umm…yes and no?" I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for a more definite answer. "Well, you see…umm…Dimka kept bugging me about seeing Rosie. She apparently did a real number on him and now she's all he can think about. Big D wanted to see Rosemarie, citing the same reasons, but I don't completely trust his intentions."

"And what does that have to do with _you_ being here? Couldn't you just send the two of them?"

"I couldn't sleep with them yelling at me about you." He looked down sheepishly, taking a step away from me, but never letting me go. "Plus, I wanted to see you. I wouldn't have been able to sleep even if they weren't yelling at me."

"Do you usually have trouble sleeping, Comrade?" I inquired, pushing him for more information.

"No, not usually. Just every once in a while, I can't keep my mind from racing."

"What got your engine going this time?" I asked smirking up at him. He blushed at my choice of words but it seemed that they were accurate.

"You." He stated without explanation.

"Me?" I asked placing a hand to my chest, feigning surprise.

"Yes, you. I couldn't get you out of my head." He confessed, "It's like my body craved to be near you. And Dimka and Big D really didn't help matters by coercing me into being able to see Rosie and Rosemarie again."

"Why do you think your body craves me?" I asked ignoring Dimka and Big D, though I could faintly hear Rosie protesting. Rosemarie was pleading with me not to let Big D near her.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because I feel so free around you. You're the only one here that knows what I am, so I can truly be myself around you."

I watched him as he confessed to me. He started looking really nervous, but the more he told me, the more he relaxed.

"I feel the same, Dimitri." I smiled up at him. The last of the tension in his body disappeared.

"You do?" His eyes brightened at my revelation and his grip on my hips became more firm. I unconsciously leaned further into his embrace, both my hands pressed to his chest.

"Of course, I do. I already felt comfortable around you before I found out you were Spirited, but now that I know what you are, I feel like I can really let you know everything. Like I don't have to hide anything from you now."

"What things were you hiding from me before?" His smile quickly turned to a frown. Apparently, he thought he was doing a very thorough job as a researcher. I smirked up at him.

"Just some of my…oh, what do you call them...gifts?" He nodded, still frowning.

"And what gifts would those be?"

"Well, it's just one gift, but it's not at the same time." Confusion spread across his face. "I have many gifts within a gift. The gift being the ability to just think of a gift on the spot and possess that gift." He looked puzzled so I explained further. "When you came in just now, I was pressed back into the corner, willing myself to be unseen. Next thing you know, I'm invisible."

"Do you think you could do that with anything?"

"I'm not really sure, I haven't really tested it out all that much. There hasn't really been much need for me to just need to be able to do something. I feel like it's an adaptation kind of thing, except with abilities. If I need a gift that I don't have, I just need to think and adapt to that gift and it's like I have it." I pondered allowed. "I don't know, however, if I can keep the abilities or if it's just a one-off thing."

"Do you think you could try to do it with something specific? Like if I gave you a specific ability that I wanted you to use, do you think you could use it?" It sounded like he had something in mind and I was becoming more curious.

"I can try." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Do you think you could teleport?"

"Okay, wow. You don't ease into anything, do you? No 'run a mile in a second' or 'transform into a corgi?'" I asked jokingly. "You just jump straight into the complexity of special manipulation."

He huffed, rolling his eyes.

"So, can you, or can't you?" He asked impatiently

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep your lab coat on. I'm trying thinking of a place to go."

"You don't want to start in your room and work up to further distances?" He asked much in the same joking manner as I had when questioning him earlier.

"If it's going to work at a long distance, it's going to work at a short distance." I stated plainly. He shrugged and waited for me to choose a location.

"I can't think of any one place to go!" I exclaimed after five minutes of thinking. "I've been locked up in here for too long for me to choose just one place."

"What if I pick a place for us to go?"

"I think I could make that work, but you'll have to picture the place in great detail."

"I can do that." He closed his eyes and reconstructed the place in his mind. A smile spread across his face and it made my heart flutter. When he spoke, it was barely a whisper. "Okay, I'm ready when you are."

I only nodded and entered his mind. The picture I found looked like a large living room in a house. I didn't want to question where it was. I wanted this to work, and if I had questioned it, he might get distracted. I wrapped my arms around his neck and stepped closer to him. He responded by engulfing me further into his arms, holding me close.

I closed my eyes and focused on the picture Dimitri had given me. The room had two long couches that sat opposite from each other with a low coffee table situated in between them. To the side of the couch on the far side of the room was an old rocking chair. There was a brick fireplace to one side of the room, a fire was blazing inside of it, and the opposite wall contained a doorway that led to the rest of the house.

The walls were a warm cream color and the light streaming into the room from the floor length windows brightened the space even more. Multiple pictures hung all around the room, the walls were covered in them and wall space seemed to be a scarce commodity.

"I need you to imagine being there." I instructed him quietly. "Imagine that you are there and I am in your arms with you. Just as we are now, but standing in the room. Visualize the smell and the sounds you would sense."

I hadn't opened my eyes but I felt him nod. His arms tightened around me even more and his head dropped to the crook of my neck, where my shoulder started sloping, and breathed in my scent. I focused on the sensations that were coming through his memory and willed them into myself, forcing me to feel them and not just through Dimitri.

I started by solidifying our foundation. I planted us firmly in the middle of the space he had created. I built the image around us, some details were missing but I felt as once I released the magic, those details would be filled in.

I released the magic that was bubbling inside me. The sounds that were coming in from Dimitri's memory became real and the rich smell of burning wood filled my lungs. My eyes flew open and I pulled back to look Dimitri in the eyes.

"I can't believe that worked." The smile that spread across his face was the happiest I'd ever seen grace his features. I felt myself returning his smile.

"Well it took you long enough." I heard a frail but firm female voice say from the direction of the rocking chair.

"Babushka!"


	12. Chapter 12

"Babushka!" Dimitri released his hold on me and quickly approached the old woman in the chair, stooping down and kissing her cheek. "I've missed you. Where is everyone else?"

"Your mama has gone out shopping for lunch for today. I told her to expect more company." She explained observing Dimitri and myself. "Your older sisters are at work, the little ones are at daycare, and Paul and Viktoria are currently at school. They won't be home till the weekend."

After first addressing Dimitri, the old woman's gaze never wavered from mine. Dimitri started chatting with this woman, catching up on lost time, I suppose. Eventually, Dimitri seemed to notice that her focus was not on him, but on me. He followed her gaze and observed me standing where we had first appeared. It seemed like he had forgotten I was there.

I wasn't upset, I got to study his behavior a little more, this woman was obviously part of his family, I'm assuming his grandmother based on her age. He seemed more at ease talking with her than he ever had at The Academy, and that included the time he was with me. Though, his behavior with me was more similar to his behavior in this house.

With the other Guardians, he was standoffish and secluded, like he didn't belong. Thinking about it now, I suppose he didn't belong. He's a Spirited surrounded by Guardians, the very people that were subjecting Spiriteds to captivity. Now I _really_ don't understand why he's working for the Guardians, but I guess hiding in plain sight was easier than running.

"Oh, Roza, this is my grandmother, Yeva." His voice brought me out of my staring contest and musings. He turned back to the old woman, Yeva, "Babushka, this is Rose Hathaway. She's my Project."

"Don't call her that, boy. Call her what she is. She's Spirited, and a very gifted one at that." Yeva reprimanded him while still looking at me. "I'm Yeva, but you will call me Babushka. I, too, am Spirited, but I'm gifted with oneiromancy." My eyes widened. This is Dimitri's home. This is where his family lives. Did he bring me to meet his family?

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yev- Babushka." I said stepping forward with my hand extended. She grasped my hand in her frail one, I felt the Buzz.

"You're powerful, Flower. Much more powerful than my grandson." She said not letting go of my hand, studying me for a minute longer. "You'll be good for him."

She released my hand and got up from her chair, turning to walk out of the room. Wait, what did she mean by that? Good for him how? In like a friendship sort of way, or in a romantic sort of way? Which one did I want?

"Your mama will be back shortly, I suggest you try not to give her a heart attack. I told her to expect company, but I didn't tell her it would be you."

"Yes, Babushka." Dimitri stared after his grandmother with a soft smile on his face. I really hope she was suggesting that I'm good for him and a romantic sense.

"So, I take it we're in your house." I said after a few minutes of silence. He finally turned back to me from where he was staring after his grandmother.

"Yes. I hope you don't mind." Looking slightly troubled, he continued, "I just haven't seen my family in over two years and I miss them something fierce. We're in Russia, so we know you can teleport long distances and you don't even have to know the place you're going, as long as you're with someone that does." A smile played at the corners of his lips.

"It wasn't as difficult as I was expecting. They make teleportation seem so impossible, but it wasn't _that_ bad." He chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"I hope you don't mind staying here for a few hours. It will be at least lunch time here before they miss us back in The States." His look turned pleading. If I wanted to I could take us back now, or leave him here, but I wanted neither of those things.

"I don't mind staying here for a little bit. As long as I don't get in trouble back at The Academy." The smile that adorned his face upon my compliance was heart-warming.

"You won't, I promise." He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the doorway leading to the rest of the house. "Come on, let me show you around."

I followed silently as he showed me around the first floor of his home. There was a kitchen and dining room, a full and half bath and a bedroom that, as he told me, his mother and grandmother shared. The majority of the lower level was taken up by the living room that we had arrived in.

"I won't be intruding, or anything, will I?" I asked suddenly, completely aware that I was in his home, and would most-likely be meeting his family. "You said that you haven't been home in two years, I don't want to be in the way of a family reunion."

"Trust me, you won't be in anyone's way. I'm actually excited for you to meet my family. Yeva, Viktoria, and I are Spirited. Karolina and Sonja aren't but Karolina's son Paul is. They haven't had the opportunity to meet many other Spiriteds. It'll be really good for Paul to meet you. Besides, I want you to meet my family." A blush started to form at the base of his neck and it was working its way up to his cheeks.

I smiled wide and nodded in acceptance. I wanted to meet his family, but I wondered if they would accept me, but if they were used to Spiriteds, I would probably be fine.

We were just about to ascend the stairs to the second floor to continue with the house tour when the front door opened to reveal a small, brown-haired woman carrying bags of different foods.

"Mama!" Dimitri rushed forward to help his mother.

"Dimitri? Dimitri!" She screamed and fumbled, shifting things around in her arms before giving up and dropping it all on the ground and jumping into Dimitri's waiting arms. He picked her up and spun her around before setting her back on her feet to give her a kiss on her cheek. They began an animated conversation in Russian while I stood and observed the exchange.

His mother was beautiful, I imagine it was she that passed her beauty to Dimitri. Their eyes were the same, kind and soft. The smiles they were giving each other were the same and the same high cheekbones shaped their faces. All in all, you could tell that Dimitri loved his mother and that his mother adored him.

"Who's this?"

His mother suddenly broke off from the Russian conversation they were having, switching to English and motioned toward me. I gave a small wave to her and a shy smile, but before I could answer Dimitri spoke up.

"This is Rose Hathaway, Janine and Abe's daughter. She's been my Project for the past two years."

"Wait. Janine and _whose_ daughter?!" I demand. Dimitri's hand flew to cover his mouth and his eyes widened exponentially. "You know who my father is?!"

"Shit. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to say that."

"You've done the right thing, grandson!" Yeva yelled from the bedroom down the hall. Looking at Dimitri expectedly, I raised an eyebrow impatiently. "Well don't just stand there staring at each other. Tell her what you know, boy."

"Yes, I do know your father. He's kind of the one that got me out of The Academy in the first place."

"Got you out?" My mind was spinning trying to come up with an answer. Then I remembered yesterday in the lab. Dimitri had told me about a young boy and a few other Projects that escaped from the Academy more than twenty years ago. Could Dimitri be that boy? He would've barely been a year old. "You're the boy that Project Z and Project V helped escape. You're Project Y."

His head moved up and down slowly, gauging my reaction with a weary look. I started piecing together what I knew and tried matching them up with the story Dimitri told me.

Project Z must have been my father. He was the only "he" that Dimitri had mentioned escaping that day. There were two other Projects, other than himself. Project V and Project O. Project V had been killed two years ago. He didn't say anything about Project O's whereabouts.

"My father was Project Z." I stated more as a question rather than a statement.

"Yes. I was the youngest Project to ever be brought in. My father turned us in. My mother was Project O. She's not Spirited, but because she was a descendent of a Spirited, they kept her locked up as a high risk. We hadn't been there for long, mama found out that she was pregnant and they were planning on killing the baby. Abe had been there for a few years, biding his time, but he could have gotten out anytime he wanted to."

"Then why didn't he leave?"

"Years before, he met my grandmother. He said it was coincidence, but she says it was fate. My grandmother had told him to 'wait in the place for a boy to come along. He will save your descendants.' At the time, he had no idea what she was referring to, but later when he was captured, her words came back to him. He was waiting for the boy to come along, and I was that boy."

"And you are supposed to save his 'descendants?' Does that mean he has more children? My mother told me he had run off with a stripper, are they _her_ children? Is he married?" I asked a string of questions, but he only gave me a very confused look.

"You're his only daughter." He started slowly, as if his next words might scare me away. "He didn't run away from your mother. Your mother ran away from him, from us. They got me out of The Academy and kept me hidden until they could bring me back here. It took a couple years, but they got me home. They stayed with us for a couple years more, hiding."

"They? You knew my mother? Who was she?"

"Yes, I knew your mother, but I don't remember much about her. I was very young when she left."

"She left…Why did she leave?" My father didn't leave my mother like she had told me. I resented my father because I thought he didn't want or love us, but now I find that my whole life has been a lie that my mother constructed. Why would she lie to me about something like that?

"She didn't tell anyone that she was leaving or why she was leaving, she just left. Though Abe imagined that when she found out she was pregnant with you, she took off." He looked at me apologetically.

"So, it's my fault she left." I suddenly felt dejected. I knew my mother loved me, but she ran away because of me.

"Oh, Roza. It's not your fault." He said wrapping me in his strong embrace. "She left for a reason, one we don't know and may never know, but it was _her_ choice to leave. It was most definitely _not_ your fault." I nodded at what he said, not because I believed it, but because it made sense.

"Who was she? My mother. I mean, obviously I know _who_ she is, but not about her life with Abe. How did they meet?"

"They met at The Academy."

"Was she a Guardian?" I asked feeling a little betrayed.

"No, she was a Project."

"A Project?" I felt my face contort further in confusion. "Which one?"

"Project V."

"My mother was a Project?" My head was spinning from all the new information and I felt my body start to mimic my mind. How could my mother have been a Project? She wasn't Spirited, I would've noticed if she was Spirited, right? How could she have kept so much from me?

"Roza?" I heard Dimitri's concerned deep bass, but the image of him was starting to blur around the edges and his voice sounded muffled.

"Comrade? You're looking a little blurry." I felt my voice become weaker as I spoke the sentence. My vision started to narrow and the sound of my blood rushed in my ears. I think I heard Dimitri call my name before I lost all sense of the world.


	13. Chapter 13

My head was throbbing when I awoke. The bed underneath me was soft and comfortable, but my body ached as I rolled over. The scent that lingered on the pillow was familiar. The smell of pine brought images of massive forests and a tall Russian.

"Dimitri." I sighed, sinking further into the mattress. "Wait! Dimitri!" I called out for him.

I heard footsteps approaching quickly as I sat up in the foreign room. The smell was familiar, but that was the only thing. Dimitri burst into the room with a panicked look gracing his gorgeous face, when his eyes took me in sitting up in the bed, his face relaxed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked tentatively, slowly stepping into the room and perching on the edge of the bed.

"My head hurts a little, but I'm fine." I answer truthfully. "Where am I?"

"You're in my room, in my house."

"You're house in Russia, right?" I clarified remembering the last few hours.

"Yes. My house in Russia." He confirmed with a small smile. He reached toward me to smooth down my tousled hair.

"I must look like a mess." I groaned, flopping backwards onto the bed and covering my face with one of his pillows. I breathed deep, capturing his scent. He eased the pillow away from my face, moving to sit beside me. He turned his torso toward me and placed one arm on the other side of my body, effectively trapping me underneath him. He leaned over my face, locking his eyes with mine and holding my gaze.

"You could never look like a mess, Roza." His smile grew timid. "You're beautiful, no matter what."

"You really think so?" I asked trying not to act shy, but his gaze was intense and earnest.

"I don't _think_ so, I _know_ so. You're the most exquisite creature that God has ever made." He breathed, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear, his eyes followed the movement of his hand. His eyes flicked back to mine before he started studying my face.

I could feel myself reacting to the intensity of the moment. His tongue darted forward to wet his lips and my eyes focused on the sudden movement. The atmosphere in the room became electrified. There was an ache in my chest and it took me a moment to realize that I wasn't breathing. I let out a shaky breath and drew air back into my lungs. His eyes glanced down at my lips before locking back to my eyes.

"May I kiss you, Roza?" Dimitri asked in a breathless whisper.

"Please." My voice held a hint of desperation in the one word, but my answer was strong, which is surprising considering my lack of oxygen.

The arm that was stretched over me came up as his hand moved to the side of my face. My breath hitched as he began to lean down. I desperately wanted to close the distance, but my body was frozen, waiting for him to come to me. His brown eyes were watching me closely and I could feel his heart hammering in his chest.

His hand tangled itself in my hair and he pulled me closer.

"Roza." He practically prayed before his lips lightly brushed mine.

The ever-present Buzz jolted my body at first contact. My skin was alive as his other hand came up to my face, pulling me toward him.

The kiss was perfect.

It was soft and gentle, yet hard and hungry.

My hand reached up and found its way into his hair. The feeling of silk entwined in my fingertips was magical. His tongue snaked its way out of his mouth and gently traced my bottom lip. The sensation was so pleasant that it made me gasp, which allowed his tongue to glide into my mouth. I moaned at the intrusion and pulled Dimitri closer.

I cautiously stroked my tongue against him. The taste of him was sweeter than I imagined. He smelled of pine but he tasted like honey. He pulled away to take a deep breath and then gently pecked me on the lips. The same giant smile that was plastered on his face was no doubt also on mine.

"You're magnificent." He breathed, still trying to catch his breath.

"You're not too bad yourself, Comrade." I blushed. He chuckled but his smile grew even wider.

"Are you okay?" He suddenly turned concerned and ran his eyes over my body, as if to check for physical injuries. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm okay. Better than okay, actually." I winked up at him. "I am a little hungry, though."

"Then you're in luck. Mama just finished making lunch. I was on my way to check up on you before I got slightly distracted." The last part was said a little sheepishly, but I wouldn't have traded the distraction for anything.

"Well, we better not keep your mom waiting."

He stood and offered me his hand as I climbed out of his bed. He pulled me close and ran his fingers through my tangled strands in an attempt to smooth them down, that or he really just wanted to touch my hair. Both could've been just as likely.

"So beautiful." He muttered to himself before clearing his throat and taking my hand. "Come on, Beautiful, I want you to meet my mama."

The nervous feeling of meeting his family was back. Dimitri must have sensed my anxiety because he turned around and cupped my face in his large hands.

"She's going to love you, Roza. Don't worry." He pressed a soft kiss to my lips, erasing any anxiety I had. I smiled and let him lead me downstairs.

"How did I get upstairs?"

"Oh, I…uh…I carried you." He answered rubbing the back of his neck and not meeting my gaze. "You collapsed and I didn't just want to place you on the couch, so I took you upstairs." I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you."

"No problem, Roza." When we entered the kitchen, Dimitri's mother was finishing transferring the food over to the table. "Mama? This is my Roza."

 _'His Roza? I think I can live with that."_ I mentally sighed in delight.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Roza. I'm Dimitri's mother, Olena." She stepped forward wrapping her arms around me. I hesitantly returned her hug.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Olena. I apologize for earlier, it was just a lot to take in."

"I understand, dear. You don't have to apologize for anything, though you did give Dimitri a fright." She smirked over at her son.

 _"Really, Mama? Did you have to tell her that?"_ He sent out, but I don't think he realized that I could hear it, too.

"Yes, I did."

 **"I think you forget that I can hear you, too, Comrade."** Dimitri's eyes widened.

 **"You shouldn't have been able to hear that. I sent that specifically to Mama."**

"Well I could hear you without even trying." I responded aloud.

"It's because you both are so strong." Yeva pipped in as she moved into the space. "The closer you two become, the stronger you will get. Eventually you won't have to try to communicate, it will become second nature. Tough times are to come, but as long as you have each other, both of you will make it out alive."

 **"Dimitri, what does she mean?"**

 **"I've no clue, Roza. She's clairvoyant, so she must have seen something. It would be wise to heed her words carefully."**

I nodded in response.

"Well how about we eat?" Olena broke the silence.

"Yes, please. I'm starving." I stated and Dimitri chuckled at me. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that you eat more than all the other Projects combined."

"It's not my fault I use so much energy just by existing." I huffed.

"That's not what I was getting at." He defended.

"Then what were you trying to get at?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him. **"Think carefully about your answer, Comrade."** He swallowed cautiously.

"I was just observing that you have a healthy appetite and it will be appreciated here."

 **"Good answer."**

He smiled down at me and led me over to the table and pulled out a chair for me to sit in. None of the food in front of me looked familiar, but Dimitri assured me that I would like it all.

"These are all my favorites." He confessed to me as he piled food onto my plate.

"Which is your absolute favorite?"

"This bread." He stated, tearing off a piece for me to pop in my mouth.

"It tastes a little like pumpernickel." I chewed thoughtfully and smiled widely.

"That's because it's a modified version of pumpernickel, but has cocoa powder in it, too, amongst other things."

"Well you definitely can't go wrong with adding more chocolate." I joked and he laughed, his eyes alight with joy. We chatted throughout the rest of lunch. I learned more about Dimitri's childhood and about life in Russia. I felt at home.

Before I knew it, Dimitri was looking down at his watch.

"We need to get going soon, before someone misses us." He walked over to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Will you be able to get us back or do I need to picture the place?"

"I'll be able to do it." I stated confidently. I turned to Olena and Yeva. "Thank you so much for lunch, Olena, and thank you for having me. I look forward to seeing both of you again. Babushka." I said nodding in her direction, she nodded back.

"Ready?" Dimitri asked me after he'd hugged his mother and grandmother goodbye.

"I was born ready, Comrade." I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me close by the waist. I pictured my room back at The Academy, Dimitri's arms wrapped around me and me curled up against him.

I sighed and started the materialization process. The silence that surrounded us let me know that we were back in my room. I started to pull away, but Dimitri's arms tightened around my waist, locking me into place.

"Are you alright, Dimitri?" I look up at him worry lacing my words.

"I'm wonderful." His smile grew as he looked into my eyes. "You're amazing. I'm so glad that you met my family, well some of my family. It's been a long time since I've seen them, so thank you for taking me."

"You don't need to thank me, Comrade, I enjoyed meeting them and getting to know more about you." I respond truthfully. "I had fun. Other than the whole fainting thing."

With the fun that I was having, I had almost completely forgotten about my mother and father being Projects. Dimitri was a Project. My eyes widened in shock as I fully comprehended what was happening.

"You're Project Y." I whisper in awe.

"I am." He answered.

"If you're a Project, then why are you working for the Guardians?"

"For a lot of reasons."

"Those reasons being?"

"Hiding in plain sight is easier and safer than running all the time. If I work for them, I know what they're doing and can help in throwing off leads. And I was recruited to take care of certain Projects." He listed.

"Which Projects have you been recruited to take care of?" I asked.

"You."

"Me?" He nodded. "Why were you recruited to take care of me?"

"You are special. My superior called me and rushed the selection process for me. She said that they had found the offspring of two powerful Projects and that the girl was extremely powerful especially considering she was underaged. Apparently, your mother was friends with my boss and had told her, if her daughter ever turned up here, that I was to be contacted and rushed here."

"So that's why you were assigned to me and only me?"

"Yes. It was made very clear that I was to protect you, even if it meant deceiving the Guardians, not that I had a problem with that."

"You did all this to take care of me? You didn't even know me. Why would you do that?" I pondered skeptically.

"I did it because Abe asked me to."

"You mean my father is still alive and you're still in contact with him?"

"Yes." I frowned.

"Then why am I still in here? Why hasn't he gotten me out."

"Because you have friends here and he didn't want to pull you out of a place without being able to get your friends out. He has a place for you to go, but not means to get you and all your friends out of here without having all the Guardians tracking everything."

"That makes sense. I don't want to leave anyone here, and since it's just me and my friends left, I don't want to leave without bringing everyone else."

"And he knew that. He's waiting until it's safe."

"It will be soon. I'll make sure of it." I vowed.


	14. Chapter 14

"Let's start with running." We'd gotten back from Russia less than an hour ago, and I'd only taken a twenty-minute nap.

I hadn't gotten much sleep last night because Dimitri's more-than-welcomed interruption. Unless you're counting the three hours where I passed out, which I was not.

I got onto the treadmill after Dimitri hooked me up to the wires. He was significantly less shy about attaching the membrane to me today than he was yesterday. But yesterday seemed like a lifetime ago. He'd slipped back into Guardian mode and was trying to keep our interaction professional in case someone happened to check in on us.

I did catch him ogling every once in a while, though. I'd usually just add an exaggerated sway to my hips which caused him to emit a low growl, which I would promptly smirk at.

"Is there something I can help you with, Comrade?" I asked after the fifth time of feeling his eyes on me.

 _'Oh, there's something you can help me with alright…"_ His thoughts rang. _'I'd love your help with some things. One thing in particular.'_

 **"Oh, Dirty Comrade. Are all your thoughts like this? I'm starting to think you let Big D run the show more than Dimka."** I looked back at him. His face was a bright red. I started laughing. **"Maybe while I'm running you should start practice on trying to block me from your thoughts. Or…and I'm not saying this is what I want...you could keep your mind out of the gutter and your thoughts clean."**

 **"That's not going to happen. If you're in the same room with me my thoughts start rolling in the mud. Especially if you keep moving your hips like that."** He growled again as I threw a wink at him over my shoulder. He sighed. **"How am I supposed to do my job if you keep distracting me?"**

 **"It's not my fault you're easily distracted. Besides, it's your job to study me, right? Well, technically, you are doing your job. You're just being** ** _very_** **meticulous in your observations."** I thought to him. "How long have I been running?"

"You've been going at it for three hours." I snickered and I could feel him rolling his eyes. "If you can maintain this pace for another two hours I'll let you stop." I outright laughed at that. Dimitri sighed and shook his head before looking back down at his book attempting to keep his thoughts clean.

"Ugh! Is there any way to pass the time so it's not just the sound of my shoes hitting the belt, the hum of the motor, and you occasionally flipping a page acting like you're actually reading that book?"

"Hey, I _am_ reading!" He asserted.

"That's not what your thoughts are telling me. Unless the heroine in your western's name is Roza." I muse. "Or if she has beautiful, dark brown hair. Or if her ass is the best thing sinc-."

"Alright! I get it! You can stop." He growled. "I wasn't reading. You're distracting and I can't think straight. However, you voicing my thoughts makes me seem like a pig. I blame you."

"Don't be ashamed, Comrade. My ass _is_ pretty great." He didn't dignify my comment with a response, but I did see him staring at my butt appraisingly.

I decided to pass the time by bringing out Rosemarie and Rosie.

"Come on, guys. The Russian isn't being any help with keeping me entertained and I'm bored out of my skull." They sat down in front of the treadmill and started chatting with each other and me.

We were in the middle of a debate. Rosie was claiming that underwire bras were so much better because they flaunted _everything_ you had, whereas Rosemarie was opposed, claiming wire-free bras to be superior.

"Wires are so uncomfortable. Plus, when the bra gets worn out and the fabric tears, which it will, the wire comes out and practically stabs you in the ribs." I supported, wincing at a phantom pain. "It's literally like your bra is trying to kill you." Rosemarie nodded in agreeance. "However, wire bras support you more and are better at keeping everything in place."

"What do you think, Dimitri?" Rosie asked saucily.

"I – uh…What?"

"Do you think wire or wire-free?" Dimitri just looked confused. Rosie rolled her eyes. "Haven't you been paying attention at all?"

"Rosie don't do this to him. You nearly broke Dimka, leave him be."

"No, Rose. We need him to settle the debate." She turned back to Dimitri. "So, which will it be?"

"I'm very confused about what you're talking about."

"Bras, Dimitri. We're talking about bras." Rosemarie explained with a blush.

"Oh, I don't think I'd be a good judge of that." Dimitri replied, the tale-tell signs of a blush appearing on his neck. "I don't wear them, so I wouldn't know."

"Yes, but you're a man. And a man knows what looks good on a woman, right?"

"Rosie, don't you dare. You're going to scar him for life." I hissed under my breath. She just gave me a mischievous smirk.

"I – umm…Yes? I think I do, at least." Dimitri answered.

"So, you could tell me if I look better in one thing compared to something else?"

"Yes." Dimitri answered slowly, his eyes narrowed, not really knowing where this was going.

"Rosie." I said warningly, but she ignored me.

"Alright. Would I look better in this," she materialized a black lacy wire-free bra and held it by the strap on one finger, "or _this_?" In her other hand materialized a crimson red, sheer cup, wired bra, there were lacy rose appliques where the nipples would be. It was a beautiful piece of clothing if it wasn't meant to scramble Dimitri's brain.

Dimitri's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. I'm pretty sure I saw a little drool coming out of the corner of his mouth.

"Great. Now look what you've done." I groaned. "You broke him."

"He's not broken. His brain's just not functioning at full capacity." Rosie cleared her throat and wiggled the skimpy garments in his direction. "Well, which is it?" She asked impatiently, tapping her foot.

"I…I don't think I'm comfortable answering the question." Dimitri responded, his voice sounding strained. He definitely did not look comfortable, but I don't think we had any doubt as to his answer. His eyes lingered on the red one before shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Rosie smirked at him, satisfied with herself.

"That's okay, you gave me the answer I was looking for." She turned to face me, tossing me the red bra before giving me a wink. "I think you should hang on to that. It might come in handy."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that, Rosie?" I asked, but still tucked the bra into the waistband of my pants.

"I know, but I think it'll be good for him. At least we know it's not just Big D and Dimka who want you." Both her and Rosemarie jumped back into my body, cutting off any answer I might have given her.

"Has it been two hours yet, Comrade?" I asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"No, but it's close enough. I think you can stop now." I slowed my run to a walking pace before I climbed off the treadmill.

"Are we doing anything else today?" I asked stretching my legs. Dimitri's focus was on the shape of my leg and it stretched to one side of me. "Comrade?"

"Huh?" He asked meeting my eyes. I smirked but didn't comment.

"Are we doing anything else today or is it just running?" He looked down at his notes and grimaced.

"I'm supposed to test your pain tolerance."

"Oh, okay." I walked over to the desk he was sitting at and placed myself in the chair beside it. "Let's do this."

"No, Rose. We don't have to do this." He shook his head.

"Yes, we do, Comrade. You can't fabricate these results." I stated. "Besides, I want to know how much I can take."

"Are you sure?" He asked nervously. "We'll stop at the first sign of discomfort."

"You don't have to do that, Dimitri. I can take it." I smirked, "I think this is going to hurt you more than it hurts me." I chuckled. "I've always wanted to say that."

Dimitri rolled his eyes but started setting up a machine to my right.

"Normally we test pain tolerance with a bucket of ice water, but since you can find a loop hole through that, we have to do shock tests." He told me apologetically.

"That's fine." I stated as he placed clamps around my index fingers.

"Just tell me when this starts to feel uncomfortable."

"I'm going to tell you when it actually starts to hurt." I told him plainly, leaving no room for argument.

"Fine." He huffed. "I'm going to start at 15 volts, then work up to 450 volts, should we get that high, I'll mark that you have an extremely high pain tolerance."

"Alright. Let's do this." I say again. Dimitri nods and turns on the machine, a mechanical hum accompanies it. He turns the knob on the box a little to the right and looks at me expectantly. "I don't feel that, Dimitri. I'm not made of glass, you don't have to worry about me."

"I will always worry about you. Until you are out of here and safe, I'll constantly worry about you." I gave him a sad smile but motioned for him to continue.

It wasn't until 300 volts that I felt anything. I could feel a slight tickle, the sensation you get when one of your limbs had fallen asleep. I didn't say anything because it wasn't pain or discomfort.

"Alright, we're at 450 volts." Dimitri declared a little while later. "Do you feel anything?"

"It's a little hum, nothing much. It's the skin prickling sensation when a limb is trying to wake up." He nodded and made the comment in his notes.

"You have an extremely high pain tolerance, though that's just with electrical currents. We've no idea how you'd fair with lacerations, and we are _not_ going to find out."

"I won't argue with you on that one." I conceded. "Is there anything else that we're doing today?"

"Not that I have planned." He answers vaguely.

"Is there something that's not planned?" I asked raising an eyebrow. Dimitri pulled his chair closer to mine, picking me up by the waist and bringing me onto his lap so I straddled him. "You're telling me you didn't plan this?"

"Of course not." He lied.

"Mhmm." I rolled my eyes but leaned further into him. "What else did you have not planned?"

"I've not planned a lot of things, Roza." He secured one arm around my waist and his other hand pulled out my ponytail holder and wound itself into my hair. "But let's start with this."

Then he kissed me. I committed myself completely the moment his lips touched mine. My body came alive as the hand in my hair pulled me closer, his hungry lips devouring mine and claiming my mouth as his own. The arm around my waist tightened pressing my body flush against his. I could feel every ridge of his body. His muscle was well defined and hard as steel.

I had one hand pressed firmly against his chest, feeling his erratic heartbeat and the other hand was tugging at his hair. I wiggled my hips gently against his, eliciting a moan from him. I smiled against his lips as he gave me a playful growl.

I giggled softly as Dimitri pressed a kiss to my forehead. I snuggled closer to his chest and laid my head there, listening to his heartbeat slow to a normal pace.

"I love you, Roza." I froze. I didn't mean to, I knew I loved Dimitri with everything in me, but I didn't expect him to return the feelings. I pulled back to look at him. There was fear in his eyes. Fear of rejection. He'd put his heart in my hands and he was scared that I was going to throw it on the floor and squish it.

"I love you, too, Dimitri." The smile that spread across his face was bright enough to light a whole city block. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't help but return his smile. I smiled so big my face began to ache. He pulled me in for another kiss, this one more loving than the last.

"I should get you back to your room." He sighed pulling away. I only nodded. He placed me back on the ground and we exited the lab side-by-side. We maintained an appropriate distance between us, though occasionally our hands did happen to brush against each other's. We'd just turned down the hallway that housed the female Projects when we were stopped.

"Belikov!" Stan shouted, mischief covering his face. "We need to have a little chat."


	15. Chapter 15

Dimitri nodded to Guardian Alto before turning to me.

"Do you think you can make it back to your room from here without getting in trouble?" He asked with a hint of amusement. He moved closer to me, shielding me from Stan's view, and reached toward me and took the bra out of the waistband of my pants. I blushed as he tucked it in the inside pocket of his coat. "I do think, though, I'm going to hang on to this. You're usually not allowed such luxuries."

"I think I can manage my way from here, Comrade. Though, I will be wanting that back." He gave me a wide smile, but looked troubled. He nodded once before turning back down the hallway to follow Stan.

I sighed as I watched the two walked down the hall. When they were out of sight, I made my way to my room. The doors on our rooms aren't locked from the outside, but as soon as it closes on the inside, there's no way for me to get out. I was hesitant to close the door. If I did it myself, I was pretty much locking myself up, giving me no chance of escape. If I didn't close it, effectively locking it, and a Guardian walked by, I could be in big trouble and so could Dimitri.

Eventually I closed the door and listened as the locking mechanisms all fell into place. This had been my home for over two years, but some much had changed recently that my room felt foreign.

I reflected back on the past twenty-four hours of my life.

I'd found out that Dimitri was Spirited, the escaped Project Y. My father, whom my mother told me had run away, was Project Z and didn't actually abandon us. I discovered that my mother was Project V and had been lying to me my entire life about who my father was.

I'd met Dimitri's mother and grandmother and had lunch with them. But the biggest change in my life occurred as soon as Dimitri's lips touched mine.

I sighed dreamily just thinking about that kiss. It was perfect. He was perfect.

I floated sprawled out in the air thinking about Dimitri. If I didn't know I was literally floating, I would've equated the feeling I had to floating on clouds.

I wonder what Stan wanted to talk to him about? A knot began to form in the pit of my stomach and the feeling of dread settled over me. I didn't understand what my body was reacting to, so I did my best to ignore it.

"Do you think you could ask Dimitri to let Big D and Dimka come out tomorrow?" Rosemarie asked, appearing beside me.

"I didn't think you guys could control when you came out."

"Yeah, well…you don't know a lot of what we can do." Rosie snorted on the other side of me. It was like the angel and devil standing on either side of me having a conversation.

"I can always ask, Rosemarie." I ignored Rosie. "But I thought that you didn't want to be around Big D?" She turned her head trying to hide a blush.

"I don't. At least, I didn't. Not until Dimitri kissed you yesterday and today." I smiled again thinking about Dimitri's kiss. "I kind of want something like that to happen to me."

"Now look what you've done Rosie, you've corrupted Rosemarie!"

"I did no such thing! If you're going to blame anyone, blame the Russian, it's his fault." She cried indignantly. "Rosemarie was doing fine with her pure thoughts until he came along, I've got nothing to do with this."

"Okay." I conceded, "What about you and Dimka? Do you still want to see him?"

"Hell, yes!" Her eyes turned mischievous. "When I'm done with him, he's not going to know what hit him."

"I'm not so sure that Dimitri is going to enjoy that. He already had Big D whispering scandalous things in his head, adding Dimka to the mix could be disastrous."

"Or it could be just the thing to motivate him to grow a pair and do the deed."

"That's so weird. If you two have sex before me, is it like I had sex?" I pondered. "Especially if it's with Dimka and Big D, that's pretty much having sex with Dimitri by proxy, right?"

"I don't know, but I would _love_ to try." I glared at Rosie. "You know you want to."

"Yes, but he might not."

"Please, I don't know about you but I could feel just how much he wanted it when we were sitting in his lap." She stated with a smirk. "Something that big is a little hard to hide."

"I can't believe you guys are talking about this." Rosemarie commented shaking her head.

"I can't believe it either, Rosemarie." Rosie declared solemnly. "We shouldn't be discussing anything, we should be doing. I mean we've nothing better to do, all we do is sit in that corner and think. I'm tired of thinking. I need to do something, I mean someone."

"You're unbelievable." I mutter. "What do you guys think Stan wanted to talk to Dimitri about?"

"He probably just wants a progress report on you." Rosemarie answered postively.

"Nah, I think he's on to Dimitri about something. Either the illicit relationship you two have started or that Dimitri is just too good at his job to be a normal human being."

"Do you really think that, Rosie, or are you just being pessimistic?"

"I believe that."

"I hope it's not either of those. If it's the first one, I'm probably going to end up with a new researcher and Dimitri would be fired. If the second one…Dimitri would be locked up right alongside us."

We talked for a little while longer before they yawned simultaneously. I rolled my eyes as they jumped back inside me and fell asleep. I was too anxious to sleep right now, but I knew tomorrow I would have answers. I showered, following my nightly routine, and changed into my pajamas before crawling into bed.

I lay in the dark, attempting to make sense of the shadows that surrounded me, when the door opened and he crept into my room.

"Good morning, Beautiful." I feel Dimitri sit down beside me. His smooth voice sending a pleasant shiver down my spine. He sounded tired and nervous.

"Good morning, Comrade." I purred. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm leaving."

"You're what?!" I sat up abruptly as my hand shot out to grab his arm. "Why?!"

"It's not safe for me here anymore." He explained. "Stan is starting to get suspicious. He has questions about me and about you. Mostly you. There are some things that aren't adding up, and he's trying to piece it together."

"So, you're just leaving?" I ask. "Without me?"

"I have to. If I leave it will draw any attention away from you. He'll stop questioning if something is amiss with you. If I run it will look like I was the only thing that he got right. If I take you with me, he'll know something else was up with us." He cupped my face in both his hands and looked pleadingly into my eyes. "You have to understand, Roza. I _have_ to keep you safe. Not just for you, or for Abe, but for me. I couldn't live with myself if something was to happen to you."

"I want to go with you." I demand, my voice coming out as a whine. "I don't want to be here if you aren't with me."

"You must stay here, Roza." Dimitri stated firmly. I shook my head slightly, seeing as it was still being restrained by his hands. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. His lips pressed into mine with a hunger that I've never felt before. This kiss was passionate and loving and everything it should have been, except I detected a goodbye. This was his goodbye kiss. "I love you, Roza. Never forget that. I love you, always."

With one last passionate kiss, he stood abruptly, leaving me cold, and rushed to the door and out into the hallway.

"Dimitri, wait!" I chased after him, but was stopped by the locked door. "Dimitri, come back! Please?!"

I pounded on the door, but it didn't move, it was too thick, and I was too distraught to focus enough to move it. Dimitri didn't come back. He had left the Academy and its grounds. I could feel him getting farther and farther away. With one last punch to the door, I sunk to the ground and cried.

I cried. It was the first time I'd cried this hard since The Accident.

But you see, the problem with crying this hard is after you're done being sad, you start getting mad. You start blaming your sadness on someone or something. I blamed my sadness on the White Coats, the government, this room…Dimitri.

I got angry.

I screamed and yelled and cursed. Still, no one came. No one cared.

That's a lie. Dimitri cared, but Dimitri was gone. I started to shake and tremble. I felt my chest ache and I staggered for breath. The rage was uncontrollable. There was no way to release it. The pressure started in the middle of my chest and moved outward. It felt like my heart was going to explode out of my ribcage.

I heard a crack come from above me. The ceiling had a gaping fracture, starting just above me and splintering out in all directions. It collapsed inward, but nothing landed on me, leaving shattered bits of glass and cement scattered in heaps around me. I stood from where I had slumped against the door and the walls began to crumble. I could hear screaming and yelling coming from the other side of the rubble.

Nothing touched me. I wasn't scared, I wasn't confused. I was focused. My heart was shattering into pieces and so was the rest of my world. I stepped over the crumpled heap of metal that used to be the door and out into the hallway. I strode down the corridor, ripping the doors of Lissa's, Mia's, and Jill's rooms, motioning them to follow me.

All three looked a little worse for the wear, but they followed wordlessly. We wound our way through the maze of passages until I found the male dorms. Again, the guys followed wordlessly. Christian, though, did look a lot more terrified than he usually did when he looked at me.

The reunited couples made my heart ache more. The ground beneath my feet began to tremble as we navigated the hallways as quickly as possible.

The White Coats were running in search of us. They weren't going to find us. They were trapped. They were scared. No, not scared, scared isn't a strong enough word. They were terrified.

They never believed that one Project could escape their cell, let alone all of them. But nothing could stop me. The only thing that could stop me was already running, and he was getting further and further away from me.

Up until twenty minutes ago, I had remained calm and in control of my powers. But Dimitri was threatened and had left, fled. He left me behind. I loved him too much to have him running. With the destruction I caused, he could be presumed missing, no one would think that he was Spirited, like us. If he was presumed missing, no one would look for him.

"Rose, what's going on?" Lissa asked as we ran off Academy grounds and into the surrounding woods.

"Dimitri left me. He is Spirited, Liss. Just like we thought." Her eyes widened. "Stan was getting suspicious so he was just going to leave me and throw Stan off my trail. But with him gone I would have no one to protect me. Needless to say, I lost control and here we are."

"Here we are, indeed." Replied Christian. "But where are we going."

"I have to find Dimitri, but first we have to get somewhere safe."

"Where's that going to be" Eddie piped up, clutching to Jill who was looking a little queasy.

"We're going to find my father." I turned and started marching through the woods. I didn't know how I knew where to go, but my instincts were telling me to go north.

 _'_ _Pennsylvania'_ A voice in my head whispered. It was a start. My friends trailed closely behind me, following wordlessly as I led them on.

Dimitri was gone, too far away to be felt. I don't know how he got away so quickly, but if my gut was correct, I was heading in the same direction. Maybe he went to my father, too. As long as he stayed put, I'd find him eventually. I had to.

My rage was wearing off.

I'd escaped from the Academy, and I was on the run with my friends.

But now I knew, no one, not even the White Coats, could keep me from finding Dimitri.


	16. Chapter 16

**Abe's POV**

The government had a real issue on their hands. The Projects had escaped and The Academy had been reduced to a pile of rubble. I should have known that my Rosemarie could cause something like this. I've kept a close eye on The Academy. I have Dimitri on the inside watching Rosemarie and he reports to me every week, though, the past couple of weeks have been troubling to say the least.

He'd informed me that Rosemarie was starting to notice something was amiss and he worried that the Guardians might figure it out, too. I'd instructed him to wait until I had a plan. Yet, here he was, on my door step with a worried look, and without Rosemarie no less.

I motioned him to follow me into my office. I closed the door after he entered and pointed to the chair in front of my desk. He sat down cautiously.

"Belikov. You better have a good reason for showing up here without my daughter in tow." I spoke calmly. He looked nervous. He had no need to be, it wasn't like I was going to kill him. He was probably the only person that Rosemarie would trust. I need him first, then I'll kill him.

"Stan was asking too many questions about Rose and about me. I left to give her longer to figure something out." He defended nervously.

"She figured something out alright." I laughed darkly, pushing the satellite images across my desk, closer to him. He leaned forward and picked them up. "These were taken two hours ago."

"Two hours ago?" He asked, stunned by the state of his previous employer. "I was there just under three hours ago, how did this happen?"

"Take a guess." I said amused.

"Rose?" I nodded. "Rose did _this_?" I nodded again. "How did Rose do something like this."

"I'm assuming it was a consequence of you leaving." I shrugged. "I'm assuming she got mad at you and this is how her anger manifested itself. You just better be glad she doesn't know where you are. If she could do this to that compound, there's no telling what she'll do to _you_."

I laughed as he gulped audibly.

"What did you do to make her so mad, anyway?"

"I left."

"A woman would not get this mad _just_ because you left." I stated narrowing my eyes at him. "What did you do?"

"I didn't _do_ anything." I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Did you tell her you were leaving?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I didn't want her to worry." He started shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"Now, why would she worry if you just left without telling her?" I leaned back in my chair, tenting my fingers, watching him very closely. "You've left before without telling her. What was different this time?

"This time…she cares about me…you know… in a way." He muttered looking down at his hands.

"She cares about you. Is that so?" I asked slowly. "And, do you care for her?"

He continued to look down at his hands, thinking. After a few minutes of silence, his head started to nod.

"I do care about her."

"Mhmm. I see. And when did you start caring for her?" He was growing more uncomfortable with each passing minute, but I wasn't going to stop until he told me the truth.

"From the moment I laid eyes on her." He sighed resigning himself to my questioning, and probably, most-likely, my anger. "It's like she was made for me, and I for her." He stated with a dreamy look on his face.

"So, you mean to tell me, that for over two years you've _cared_ for my daughter without informing me." I growled.

I didn't _care_ for her, Abe, not in _that_ way. I took care of her. She's the best thing that's happened in my life! I love her. I didn't know she loved me until yesterday when we were in Russia." He confessed.

"You're in love with my daughter." I stated, he nodded. "Wait. You were in Russia? Yesterday?"

"Yeah, Rose found out she can teleport." My eyes widened. "She took me home and I saw Mama and Babushka."

"Ah, Yeva. How is she?"

"She's getting old, but the visions are still as strong as ever. She told us Rose was getting stronger."

"So, you took her home to meet your family?" I asked, my anger returning after a momentary lapse.

"It wasn't my intention at first. She said that she might be able to teleport and I wanted to see proof, but when she couldn't think of a place to go, I thought up one for her. She took me with her."

"Can she teleport to just places or to specific people, as well?"

"What do you mean 'specific people?'" His eyes widened.

"He means can I teleport to a specific person." A new voice entered the conversation. I looked over to find Rosemarie standing with six other people. She looked pissed. "Like you."

She pointed to me.

"I'll deal with you in a minute. You!" She whirled to Belikov, practically growling. "I've got a bone to pick with you."

I was a little scared of her, and I wasn't even on the receiving end of her rage, yet. Dimitri scrambled to stand and started backing toward the door before he froze, his body going rigid.

"I'm not done with you." She turned to me with a sweet smile plastered on her face. "Abe, do you have a place where Guardian Belikov and I can have a nice, private chat? I've just got some personal matters I want to discuss with him."

I don't think I've ever smiled so big. She was definitely my child.

"Upstairs, second door on your right." She nodded sharply, her look turning murderous again. Panic flashed in Dimitri's eyes yet his mouth was frozen shut. He looked at me pleadingly. The office door was flung violently open before Rosemarie marched through it, dragging Dimitri behind her.

I waited a few moments before hearing a distant door slamming shut. I turned to the other six people that had appeared with Rosemarie.

"Hello, I'm Abe Mazur." I introduced myself, six pairs of eyes turned my direction. "I'm Rosemarie's father, though I'm assuming she didn't know until very recently." The tall blonde was the first to step forward.

"I'm Vasilisa Dragomir, but please, call me Lissa. These are Rose's and my friends from The Academy. Christian Ozera, Mia Rinaldi, Edison Castile, Jillian Mastrano, and Mason Ashford." As each individual was introduced, they stepped forward to shake my hand.

"It's lovely to meet all of you. If you don't mind, could you inform me of your abilities?"

"I'm a pyrokinetic." Christian provided.

"Eddie and I are both pathokinetics." Mia said next.

"I'm an atmokinetic." Jill stated shyly.

"I'm pretty much the ginger version of The Hulk." Mason laughed. "Except I don't turn green."

"I'm a cyrokinetic." Lissa said sweetly.

"Wonderful!" I exclaimed, glad to meet my daughter's friends. "I'm pyrokinetic and a neurokinetic, and I'm gifted in invisibility."

"So, you have more than one ability, like Rose." Lissa stated.

"It seems it runs in the family. Do you know what her talents involve?"

"There are too many to name, I'm afraid. And from what I understand, she's still discovering them weekly."

"Do you know what she used to do this?" I asked motioning toward the pictures of the destroyed Academy.

"That was probably a combination of a lot of different abilities." Christian supplied.

"I know for a fact she was using invisibility to get us out of there unseen." Eddie declared.

"She either used telekinesis or metallokinesis to get the doors off, but I don't recall her ever mentioning having metallokinesis." Mia noted with a confused look on her face.

"She most-likely used geokinesis to destroy the entire place. I know at one point that the ground was shaking, but that was while we were already running out of the building, the walls had started to collapse before then." Lissa said. "Can a geokinetic manipulate concrete?"

"I believe they can." I said thoughtfully. "If she did all this, and used as many powers as she did, including teleportation, how is she not exhausted?"

"I don't think I've ever seen Rose get tired from using her powers, and she's never mentioned being drained afterwards." Lissa stated looking back at her friends, they all nodded in agreeance. "The rest of us get tired of continuous use after about five minutes. She went nonstop for a good twenty minutes to get us out, but stopped as we trudged through the woods. When she finally realized that she could probably just teleport us here, it had been about two hours."

"Interesting." I mumbled, trying to understand my daughter. "Well, I'll talk more with her when she's done ripping apart Belikov. Though, she'll probably turn her anger on me, next."

"Oh, she's not angry right now." Mia said with a smirk on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"She means we don't feel anger anywhere in this house, and especially not from the two of them." Eddie commented with a matching smirk on his face.

"What _do_ you feel coming from them?"

"I'm not sure it's in Guardian Belikov's best interest if they answer that." Lissa stated, interrupting both of the pathokinetics.

I jumped to my feet and rushed out of the room.

"BELIKOV!" I roared. I heard a thud come from above me and I moved over to the staircase. He came bursting out of the room they had been occupying, his hair disheveled and his shirt unbuttoned, which he was quickly trying to fix. "What were you doing with my daughter?" I asked in a calm voice, seething on the inside.

"Um…nothing, sir." He said looking back to where Rose emerged from the room, she was still in the pajamas she had arrived in, though, her hair was a tangled mess. "We were just talking."

"We were making out, Dad." Rose said with a roll of her eyes. My eyes flicked back to Dimitri. I raised an eyebrow hoping for an explanation.

"Okay, yes. We were making out…"

"And we were well on our way to something more, before those two blew it for us." Rose interrupted while glaring daggers at Eddie and Mia.

"Don't blame them."

"Oh, so you're telling me that you figured out we were getting hot and heavy all by yourself?" She questioned sarcastically. "Listen, Old Man. This might be your house, but it's my life that you haven't been a part of. You sent me Dimitri, so this is really your fault."

"I didn't intend for him to fall in love with you." I growled, glaring at Dimitri, and he moved closer to Rose. "He was just supposed to keep the Guardians from figuring out all you could do."

"Why would you do that? How did you even find out about me?" She asked. "Mom ran away from you and hid me."

"I keep tabs on the Guardians. I have a friend on the inside that relays any important information that I need to know. When you showed up in the compound, she gave me a call. I told her I was going to be sending a new recruit and his process needed to be expedited and for him to be assigned to you." I explained. "I tracked down Belikov here and told him he had to protect my daughter. He didn't question it, he just went."

"I've never met a female Guardian. Who is your friend?"

"Her name is Tatiana Ivashkov. She's not a Guardian, but she is in charge of the Guardians. She oversees everything."

"And why would she help you?"

"She comes from a long line of Spiriteds. She infiltrated the government and worked her way to the position she holds now. She herself is not Spirited, but she has a few relatives that are and she's kept them hidden for decades."

"Well, what are we going to do now? I destroyed the compound, so there aren't any more Guardians."

"I wish that were true. The compound you destroyed was one of a few worldwide. Tatiana is not the one running the show. She has a superior who had made it his mission to round up as many Spiriteds as possible. From what she's told me, he's looking for a specific power, but he hasn't found it yet."

"Who's her boss?"

"Victor Dashkov."


	17. Chapter 17

**RPOV**

"He means can I teleport to a specific person." I answered Dimitri's question calmly. "Like you."

"I'll deal with you in a minute." I said pointing and glaring at my father. I could see the resemblance, he even had my trademark smirk. "You!" I turned back to Dimitri growling. "I've got a bone to pick with you."

Dimitri quickly rose from the chair he was sitting in and started to back towards the door, hands raised in a calming gesture. I narrowed my eyes and froze him in place.

"I'm not done with you." I ground out before turning back to my father. I stuck a sweet smile on my face, which he grinned widely at. "Abe, do you have a place where Guardian Belikov and I can have a nice, private chat? I've just got some personal matters I want to discuss with him."

"Upstairs, second door on your right." He responded immediately. I gave a quick nod and dropped my smile back to a snarl before turning back to a still frozen Dimitri. I felt his panic and reveled in it. I flung the office door open and dragged Dimitri out behind me.

I was vaguely aware of the huge expanse of a house before I stomped up the stairs with Dimitri in tow. I followed Abe's directions, which led me to a decent sized bedroom. I chose to ignore the bed and placed Dimitri in a desk chair across the room and started pacing in front of him. He was fighting my control, but I was too angry to let him go.

"You're going to sit there and listen to what I have to say before I let you go." I paced for a few moments longer before starting. I was angry, but my anger was starting to fade now that I've seen him but not enough to let him explain before I started ranting.

"I can't believe you were just going to leave me. You weren't even going to talk to me about it, you were just going to leave. I doubt that Stan knew anything. It's just the kind of person he is. He's not exactly intelligent, but he likes to screw with people's minds and this was a way to screw with yours."

He was fighting my control more and I think he could probably feel it weakening because he fought harder.

"You told me you loved me, but you just left. Do you know how I felt? How much it hurt to see you walk away? I love you, Dimitri! And you just left me there, with them!" I was aware that he had gained control, but the tears were already pouring down my face when he wrapped his arms around me. "You were the only person keeping me safe there. And you left." My voice was a whisper when I finished.

"I'm so sorry, Roza. I didn't mean to upset you, and I especially didn't mean to make you cry. I just thought that if I left, it would give you a greater chance of getting by undetected." He said placing soft kisses in my hair, rubbing soft circles on my back comfortingly.

"But with you leaving they would have come to me asking questions and would want to know all that I knew about you. Your leaving put me in danger, too."

"I'm sorry, Roza." He cupped my face in his large hands and stared into my eyes. "I'm here now, and you're with me. That's all that matters."

I don't know where all my anger went, but I wasn't angry anymore. Then the realization spread.

"Damn you, Dimitri Belikov!" I pushed him away. "You manipulated my emotions."

There was no calming my anger now, but he stepped closer to me again.

"Roza." He purred out.

"No! Don't touch me!" I backed away from him, but ended up backing into a wall, and he was still coming closer.

"I love you, Roza." His voice was almost hypnotic, I tried to fight it, but the truth was hard to fight. He closed the space between us as I continued to fight him off.

His index finger tilted my chin up so my eyes met his. There were so many emotions that shone in his eyes, but love was the brightest. I got lost in his chocolate brown eyes, and before I knew it, he was kissing me, and I was kissing him back.

I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. His arms slid around my waist and lifted me up. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his hips and was rewarded with a soft growl. He was moving, but I didn't know to where, and I didn't care.

He placed me gently down on the bed and moved himself to where he was hovering over me, never breaking the kiss, but not maintaining contact with our bodies. I pulled back to get more air into my lungs. Dimitri lowered his head to nestle into my neck, placing soft kisses there and interspersing gentle nips.

My body craved more contact. My legs still wrapped around his hips, I pulled myself up to where I wasn't touching the bed below me. I was wrapped around him, hanging there. With one arm still around his neck, keeping me in place, my other hand moved to his chest and started unbuttoning his shirt. My hand lingered on his smooth skin, trailing downward.

"BELIKOV!" A voice came bellowing from below. I dropped from Dimitri as he flung himself off the bed, landing with a thud. Quickly recovering, he rushed out the door, trying to button his shirt as he went. "What were you doing with my daughter?" Abe's voice reached my ears and I rolled my eyes.

 _'Great timing, Dad.'_ I thought.

"Um...nothing, sir." Dimitri responded as I exited the bedroom. He was looking sexy, top two buttons still undone, hair slightly messy from me running my fingers through it. "We were just talking." I fought off a very un-ladylike snort.

"We were making out, Dad." I declared, rolling my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest leaning against the doorway.

"Okay, yes. We were making out…" Dimitri started before I interrupted him.

"And we were well on our way to something more, before those two blew it for us." I glared at Eddie and Mia, who had the sense to look a little contrite.

"Don't blame them." Abe defended.

"Oh, so you're telling me that you figured out we were getting hot and heavy all by yourself?" I questioned sarcastically. "Listen, Old Man. This might be your house, but it's my life that you haven't been a part of. You sent me Dimitri, so this is really your fault."

"I didn't intend for him to fall in love with you." Abe growled, glaring at Dimitri, as he moved closer to me, probably for protection. "He was just supposed to keep the Guardians from figuring out all you could do."

"Why would you do that? How did you even find out about me?" I asked. "Mom ran away from you and hid me." He fought a flinch but it still showed.

"I keep tabs on the Guardians. I have a friend on the inside that relays any important information that I need to know. When you showed up in the compound, she gave me a call. I told her I was going to be sending a new recruit and his process needed to be expedited and for him to be assigned to only you." He explained. "I tracked down Belikov here and told him he had to protect my daughter. He didn't question it, he just went."

"I've never met a female Guardian. Who is your friend?"

"Her name is Tatiana Ivashkov. She's not a Guardian, but she is in charge of the Guardian Program. She oversees everything."

"And why would she help you?"

"She comes from a long line of Spiriteds. She infiltrated the government and worked her way to the position she holds now. She herself is not Spirited, but she has a few relatives that are and she's kept them hidden for decades."

"Well, what are we going to do now? I destroyed the compound, so there aren't any more Guardians. Problem solved, right?"

"I wish that were true. The compound you destroyed was one of many worldwide. Tatiana is not the one running the show. She has a superior who had made it their mission to round up as many Spiriteds as possible. From what she's told me, he's looking for a specific power, but he hasn't found it yet."

"Who's her boss?"

"Victor Dashkov."

"I knew a Dashkov, once." Christian said. "A Natalie Dashkov, I believe."

"His daughter." Abe explained, looking at him more closely. "You said you were an Ozera?"

"Yep."

"Any relation to a Natasha?"

"Tasha?" Christian asked. "Yeah, she's my aunt."

"Your aunt? She's working with Victor." Abe provided. "When's the last time you saw her?"

"It's been before my parents were killed."

"Probably because she was in on the plot to have them killed." Abe said solemnly. "She has a large burn scar on most of her face because of the fire you set."

Christian looked stunned. The emotions playing were a mix of anger, betrayal, and uncertainty.

"Why would she help kill my parents?" He asked after a few moments.

"They were harboring Spiriteds. Well, at least that's the story she'd told the public." Abe explained, the rest of us were silent. I think Dimitri was still scared Abe might kill him, but the rest of us just didn't know what to say. "Your father was Spirited himself, but he didn't use his power ever, avoiding the government's notice, but he helped where he could. Dashkov is looking for a specific ability and hasn't found it yet. I'm not sure he'll ever find it, but now that The Academy is gone, he'll probably be looking harder for you, Rose." Abe turned his attention to me, leaving Christian to process the new information.

"Now that you've shown you're more powerful than any of the Guardians thought, he'll be coming for you. I don't know how he plans to find you, but I have no doubt he will."

"What do you suggest we do?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, yet. We will need to have a discussion, but for now, it's late." He said looking over at a clock on the wall, it was approaching 9 p.m. Not late, really, but I was exhausted from the journey here and from Dimitri manipulating my emotions. "There are a few bedrooms on this floor and some on the floor above us. The only people I care about when it comes to sleeping arrangements are Dimitri and Rose." He declared glaring at Dimitri.

"Don't worry, Dad. We'll be sleeping in separate beds." I said, appeasing him.

"I don't know about clothing, though. Dimitri brought his stuff, but none of the rest of you did. I have things that might fit Christian, Eddie, and Mason. But nothing for you ladies." He said apologetically. "I can have things brought to the house tomorrow morning, though, so all we have to find is sleepwear."

"Dimitri has a shirt I can wear, right, Comrade?" I asked turning to look at him.

"Of course, Roza." He said smiling down at me, he bowed his head as if to kiss me, but remembered my father was watching him and stopped.

"Would a sleep shirt do for you two, also?" Abe turned to Lissa and Mia, both nodded. "Wonderful. You guys get some sleep tonight and we'll start planning in the morning."

Abe disappeared into a room toward the end of the hall and returned with a stack of clothes. He distributed the pile amongst my six friends. Dimitri had slipped downstairs and was returning with his packed duffle bag. He pulled out a shirt and handed it to me with a loving look.

"Thanks, Comrade." I mumbled, suddenly very tired.

"There are two bathrooms on each floor should you decide to shower. Extra toothbrushes are in one of the drawers." Abe explained before bidding us all goodnight. When he was out of sight and the door to his room closed, Dimitri engulfed me in his arms, bringing his lips to mine.

"I love you, Roza." He kissed the tip of my nose. "Sleep well. Goodnight."

He released me and gently pushed me back into the room we'd just come out of. The bedclothes were still rumpled and I pushed to images of Dimitri hovering over me to the back of my mind as I stripped out of my dirty pajamas and pulled Dimitri's shirt over my head. I laid back on the bed and took a deep breath. His smell enveloped me and lulled me to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

I stirred slightly as I felt someone lay on the bed beside me.

"Comrade?" I asked sleepily, rolling over to see Dimitri in just his boxers slipping under the covers with me.

"Hey, Roza. I'm sorry to wake you. I couldn't sleep. Is this okay?" He asked hesitantly, still positioned on the very edge of the bed.

"Of course. Come here." I pulled at his arm, wrapping it around me so I could snuggle into his chest, resting my head where his shoulder connected with his chest. The thud of his heart was steady and strong. In the warmth of his arms, I got sleepy again. "I love you, Dimitri."

"I love you, too, Roza." He responded with a kiss to my forehead. "I'll still be here in the morning, you just sleep now." I didn't protest but instead timed my breaths with the pace of his heart and before I knew it I was back asleep.

When I'd woke some hours later, I'd forgotten that Dimitri had crept into my bed. Strong, muscular arms were wrapped around me from behind and heat was radiating off his bare chest. A panic started to work its way up until I took a deep breath of the all too familiar scent of Dimitri. That's the only way I can describe it. It's probably a little piney, but it's his natural scent, so it's uniquely him.

Once my brain had registered that Dimitri had me wrapped in his arms, and he was still asleep, a devious smile spread across my face. I wiggled my butt against him, hoping to wake him. I woke _something_.

"Roza." He mumbled, still asleep. His arms tightened around me, forcing me hard against him, not that I minded. In fact, it was feeding straight into my plan. Wiggling my butt again, I felt his cock twitch, but he still didn't wake. The third-time wiggling seemed to rouse his mind enough to kiss the back of my neck before tightening his arms once more and nuzzling his head into my hair.

I wiggled once more, this time Dimitri was fully awake and aware of what I was doing. I chuckled as he growled, but he'd yet to release me.

"Good morning, Comrade, and Not-So-Little Comrade." I said cheekily.

"Good morning, Roza, or should I call you 'Temptress' today?"

"Only if you want me to call you 'Big D.'" I responded and he growled again. I only laughed as he snuggled back into my hair, taking a deep breath. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Almost 10." He informed me after turning to look at the clock on the bedside table behind him. "I'm assuming your father is going to come looking for you soon."

"And you're going to stay in my bed until he does?" I asked. His eyes widened in realization of where he was. He finally released me only to stumble off the bed, looking horrified.

"He's going to kill me." Dimitri muttered, running a hand through his hair. I laughed at his expression.

"If he knows what's good for him, he'll leave you alone." I said, motioning him back over. "Now get back in bed with me." He was a little hesitant at first, but finally caved when I jutted my bottom lip out in a pout.

"You're not playing fair, Roza." He teased bringing his lips to mine. I rolled him onto his back and straddled him.

"You know what they say, 'All's fair in love and war?'" He released an animalistic growl, before gripping my hips, pinning me in place. I placed one hand on his chest, leaning down on the other hand which was placed next to his head.

I lowered my lips to his softly, but he quickly captured my bottom lip in between his teeth, causing me to moan and deepen the kiss. One of his hands had released its grip on my hip and was working its way up my side to caress my breast, the other remained on my hip, but had found its way under his shirt that I was still wearing.

He was about to get rid of my shirt when the door flew open, revealing an irate Abe. Dimitri jumped, but because I was on top of him, he wasn't going anywhere. His hands leapt off of me and he wore an expression of pure terror. As for me, I looked over my shoulder with an irritated expression, my hand still on Dimitri's bare chest.

"What do you want, Dad?" I asked with annoyance.

"I want you to climb off of Mr. Belikov, and I want him to keep his hands off my daughter." His teeth were clenched as he tried to cage his rage.

"Neither of those things are going to happen." I told him, grinding myself back down onto Dimitri, he gave an involuntary moan causing Abe's expression to darken even more. "If you're ready to start planning, we'll be down in a few minutes. Otherwise, I'm going to kindly ask you to leave, before I make you leave not so kindly." I plastered a sweet smile on my face and accompanied it with a sweet tone.

"You and I are going to have a little chat, and she won't be there to protect you when we do." Abe threatened pointing to Dimitri. I felt Dimitri gulp, but he only nodded in response. "We are ready to start planning, though. We're all downstairs waiting for the two of you." Abe said turning back to me with a much kinder tone lacing his words. The expression on his face soften when he looked at me, before hardening again as he glanced down at Dimitri still pinned underneath me in only his boxers. He gave a sharp nod before turning to leave, the door left wide open.

"We _will_ finish this later." I said leaning down to give Dimitri a chaste kiss then climbed off him in search of clothes. Dimitri still looked a little shocked at what had just transpired, but pulled himself out of bed anyway. He left my room to go down the hall, presumably to get dressed.

After I had dressed in clothes that I found just outside the door, I made my way downstairs. The smell of food was wafting through the halls and my stomach made itself known. When I entered the dining room, I saw Dimitri was already there, seated and eating, with a loaded plate placed in the spot beside him. He motioned for me to take the seat and the plate.

"Thanks, Comrade." I said as I sat down, giving him a soft peck on his cheek. His expression turned terrified again and I looked up to see Abe giving him a death glare.

 _"Old Man, I'm only going to tell you this once. Dimitri is my boyfriend now. You may not like it, but you're going to suck it up and deal with it. I'm in love with him, and he's in love with me."_ I projected to him while giving him a glare. His eyes turned to mine in surprise. _"If you can't deal with this, I will be leaving and taking him with me. So, you either deal with it in your house, or you don't deal with it and I leave."_

With one last glare in Dimitri's direction, Abe nodded in compliance. I took Dimitri's hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze; he rewarded me with a large smile that lit up the whole room. The rest of I guess it would be brunch was done in silence. I was the last to finish eating and as soon as my fork was set down after my last bite, Abe got straight to business.

"Alright, Rose, could you tell us all your powers, that you know of?" He started first by addressing me.

"It's a long list, well not that long, but longer than most." He nodded and pulled a pad and pen seemingly out of thin air, looking up at me expectantly, I continued. "There's duplication, telepathy, telekinesis, pathokinesis, aerokinesis, atmokinesis, calokinesis, geokinesis, thiriokinesis and hydrokinesis. I recently discovered I have potentikinesis."

Abe sat and scribbled down the listed abilities.

"Is that it?"

"Not at all. Dimitri discovered I could teleport. I have an ability to detect another Spirited if I come in contact with them. Also, I've been able to conjure up an ability if I think of it hard enough. Oh, and invisibility." I sat racking my brain for more abilities. "I think that's it."

Abe nodded still jotting things down. After he'd finished his list, he just stared at it before looking up at Dimitri with a faint hint of malice.

"What about you?" He waited expectantly with his pen poised ready to write, though with the grip he had on it, it could have been used as a weapon. "Have you developed anything new?"

"I don't think so? Telepathy, telekinesis, pathokinesis, duplication, thiriokinesis, umbrakinesis, vita-mortokinesis, potentikinesis, and metallokinesis. Is that the same as you remember it?"

"Other than the duplication." Abe stated. Dimitri looked over at me and I smirked knowingly at him.

"I'm not sure that it's a recent development, but he's definitely used it more often now."

Abe's head whipped up and glared at Dimitri who looked over at me with a scandalized look on his face. I laughed at both of them.

"It's not like that, Dad. That's how I found out that Dimitri was Spirited. I forced him to use his ability and the one that presented itself was duplication." Abe looked skeptical, but accepted the back story.

"From these abilities, I can't think of anything that Victor could be looking for. Of course, I don't know what he's looking for so I couldn't even begin to guess what he needs an ability for."

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked. "We can't just leave the other Projects in their Academies to be subjected to Victor's plot."

"There's not much we can do right now. Tatiana is sending over someone with blueprints of the other compounds so we can start putting together a plan."

"Who is she sending?" Dimitri asked curiously.

"Adrian." Dimitri started laughing hysterically, but Abe was extremely confused by his outburst. "What?"

"If you don't like me when I'm around your daughter, being the gentleman that I am, you're going to absolutely loathe Adrian Ivashkov." Abe's look turned murderous again and I rolled my eyes.

"You can't have a problem with every guy that shows me attention, Old Man."

"I can try." He muttered to himself, probably taking it more as a challenge than anything.

"I know I'm going to have a problem with it when he starts flirting with you. Knowing him, it won't take but two minutes in the door for him to throw some sexual innuendo into the conversation or look at you suggestively." It was Dimitri's turn to look murderous, though on him the look was sexy.

"Don't worry, Comrade. You're the only man I have eyes for." I said sweetly, batting my eyelashes at him. His expression turned loving, and he leant over to give me a lingering kiss. I wanted it to progress further, but I had a feeling that Dimitri was very much aware of Abe and the power he holds. I sighed pulling back. "So, when is this Adrian going to arrive?"

"He should be here sometime this afternoon, though I don't know when exactly." Abe said with a thoughtful expression as he looked back over the list of abilities he'd made. "Kiz, when you said you could conjure up an ability, what did you mean by that?"

"Well, Dimitri was sneaking into my room one night and I didn't know it was him. I'd back myself into a corner willing myself to go unseen. When Dimitri turned on the lights, revealing himself to me, he couldn't see me. We pondered from there what it could mean. Dimitri asked me if I thought I might be able to do another ability and he suggested teleportation. Needless to say, it worked." I explained. "I think I would be able to do it with any ability, though I'm not sure how long I can use the ability once I've conjured it up."

"That could be useful for us, but dangerous should that information fall into Victor's hands." Abe said giving me a serious look. "I think we should all take a break, do a little clothes shopping, and reconvene when Adrian arrives with word from Tatiana."

We all nodded, and Abe provided us with laptops and credit cards. He told us not to worry about the cost and buy whatever we would need.

"You want to help me pick out bras, Comrade?" I whispered seductively in Dimitri's ear. His eyes darkened and his pupils dilated, the look of pure unadulterated lust washed over his face.

"There's nothing I would love more, Roza." He grabbed my hand and pulled me quickly up the stairs with a laptop and card in hand. This was going to be fun.


	19. Chapter 19

"Hello, Little Project." Adrian said taking my hand and bringing it to his lips, but I pulled it out of his grasp before he got that far.

"Hello, Mr. Ivashkov." I said monotonously.

"Oh, please. Call me Adrian." He said flashing me what was supposed to be a dashing smile. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise, I suppose." I said stepping further away from him and closer to Dimitri. Dimitri, who was doing well on his part, draped his arm leisurely around my waist, but it was definitely a move to show possession.

"Adrian." Dimitri nodded to him, but made no move to detach himself from me.

"It's nice to see you again, Cuz." Dimitri groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Dimitri here is my cousin. Tatiana is his great aunt." Adrian exclaimed proudly. "We come from the same line of Spiriteds."

"And yet, you couldn't be more different." I mumbled.

"You're the one to talk about being different, Little Project." Adrian said eyeing me up and down causing Dimitri to stiffen and tighten his hold. "Have you seen your aura lately?"

"I haven't seen my aura ever." I told him. "So, I'm assuming that you're oneirokinetic."

"Your assumption would be correct." He said with a smirk. "I must ask, what is your gift?"

"I have many."

"Any of them umbrakinesis?"

"That would be one of mine." Dimitri cut in.

"Well, Cuz, you might want to try and take some of her Darkness. Looks like she could use a little pick me up."

Dimitri shared a bewildered look with Adrian and then turned to assess me.

"You're a Wielder of Death." Dimitri breathed out.

"I'm a what?!"

"A Wielder of Death is one who has vita-mortokinesis." Adrian explained. "Basically, you have Death in your back pocket, but you also have Life at your fingertips, though most vita-mortokinetics don't use Life. With the power to wield Death comes Darkness. Darkness is the Death that seeps into you. Dimitri doesn't feel the effects of Darkness because he has umbrakinesis. He uses both in tandem with each other."

"But I don't have umbrakinesis." I reminded them. "If I am in fact a Wielder of Death, and I'm not saying I am, then how am I going to get rid of my Darkness?"

"There are a few ways that don't require Dimitri's help." Adrian began. "You could always workout. Hitting something always seems to deplete Darkness. That's option one."

"How many options are there?"

"Three. Well, four technically." Adrian said thinking aloud. "So, there's hitting something. Having sex seems to help, and I would be happy to provide my services, if that's the course you choose." Dimitri growled and pulled me closer. I placed my hand on his chest, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. "The third option would be to have Dimitri take the Darkness from you, but that could be harmful for him."

"Then I'm definitely not doing that. Don't even think about it, Comrade." I stopped Dimitri before he could argue with me. "What's the fourth option?"

"That would be to do nothing. The Darkness would eventually build up and drive you mad. This is the option that I would not choose due to the fact that you are so powerful, adding crazy to the mix would be disastrous."

I nodded weighing all of my options.

"Well, I could always hit something. But…" I turned to Dimitri and wiggled my eyebrows. "You could help me with the second option."

Hunger flooded his face and he pulled me flush against him. I looped my arms around the back of his neck pulling myself up to reach his lips.

"The second option will not be happening under my roof." Abe barked out, causing Dimitri to drop me and step away hurriedly.

"Really, Old Man?"

"Yes, really, Kiz." I'd barely remembered that my father and my friends were seated around the dining table listening to Adrian inform me of my impending doom. Well, that was a little dramatic, my _possible_ impending doom.

Lissa and Christian were cuddled up, as were Eddie and Jill. Mason and Mia were close but not cuddling, I had a feeling that Mason was scare of my father. I chuckled internally at the fact that a hulk of a man like Mason could be scared of my father. I didn't find him that scary, though he was my father, so I didn't have anything to fear.

"So, Adrian. What news did you bring us?"

"Right. Tatiana sends her congrats to Rosemarie on a job well done with the escape." He declared nodding his head toward me with a smirk on his face. "She has a little more information on what Victor is planning to do and what he wants with the Projects. The most important news she sends is about Victor himself."

"Well, let's start with that and go from there." Adrian nodded at Abe before taking a deep breath.

"It turns out Victor has found a way to make himself Spirited. He has a brother, Robert, who is Spirited and can loan power to one who is not Spirited. From what Tatiana tells me, he's not very powerful and using the power drains both him and his brother so they can't do it very long or very often."

"What power is loaned?"

"That's where it gets bad, like really bad." Adrian stated looking hesitant to share the information. He seemed scared, but of what or of whom, I didn't know, yet. "We don't know how _this_ is the power that is loaned, but it is: necrokinesis."

"He's controlling the dead?" I asked shocked.

"It seems to be that way. Though, he doesn't control them for long before he gets worn out. Tatiana thinks that it's because he's too old and weak to possess such a powerful gift. According to her, Victor's health has been on the decline recently and as a result, he's doubled his efforts in tracking down the right Project."

"Well if he has power, what does he need Projects for?"

"He's looking for someone with gerontokinesis, so he can make himself young again. He assumes that by becoming young again, he'll heal and get better so he can control the power for longer."

"He hasn't found anyone, yet, right?" I asked nervously. I've never been able to control age, but that didn't mean that I couldn't, it just meant that I couldn't _right now_.

"Not yet, though I'm sure he felt he was close with you. But now that you're out, he'll probably begin testing for other abilities in all the Projects just to be sure he didn't miss anything. He's probably going to have more of his people looking for you, too."

"How many compounds are there?" I asked, ignoring the threat on my life, though I felt Dimitri tense.

"There's another one in the States, over in Montana, and then two in Russia." Adrian started to pull out blueprints of the remaining Academies. "These are about a decade old, so we don't know how much has changed in each compound, but this is the best we could do."

"We'll take what we can get." Abe said as he began investigating the blueprints. "We'd like to get the Projects out without having to destroy the buildings, not that we won't if we need to."

"Sorry about that." I said shyly.

"It's not your fault." Abe stated while glaring at Dimitri.

"Old Man…" I warned.

"I know, I know. I'm dealing with it." He didn't sound too convincing, but I let it slide. "Do you know where Victor is currently?"

"We think that he's in Russia at one of the compounds. After Rose escaped, the next best Project is housed there, so he presumably went to keep an eye on progress." Adrian provided. "But we don't know for sure. No one has seen him for about a week. We're just assuming that word of your escape reached him and he's trying to protect his assets."

We all nodded, scanning the blueprints, though no one but Abe knew what they were looking for. We sat in silence for a little while, letting the information sink in so we could process it all.

"Recently, Projects have been leaving the Academy. Do you know where they're going?" I asked suddenly, remembering all of Projects that had been removed due to "downsizing."

"We think that he's found another Project that is gifted in neurokinesis and is using that individual to control the other Projects. Normally, compulsion on a Spirited is difficult because they are at least a little immune to any gift, but those Projects that were taken were the ones that aren't all there, making them easier to control."

"So, he's building a Spirit Army." Abe stated.

"What for?" I voiced.

"I'm assuming it can't be good, considering it's Victor." Dimitri voiced. "How could we know all of this and not be doing something to stop him?"

"Victor is deeply imbedded in the government, both here in the States and in Russia. He's gotten officials to believe the Spiriteds are individuals to be feared. With each Project brought in, he's been sure to have a planned disaster that he blamed on the captured Spirited." He then looked over at me and chuckled quietly. "Though, not all Projects had to have a cover story planted."

"That wasn't my fault. He had it coming." I huffed indignantly. "You'd do well to keep that in mind if you try anything."

I saw Adrian's carefree demeanor flash with fear and anxiety, before masking it with his usual arrogance.

"You wouldn't do that, Little Project. You like me too much."

"You keep telling yourself that." I snorted.

"Do I want to know what you two are talking about?" Abe asked hesitantly.

"Tatiana didn't tell you?" Adrian gasped giddily.

"Tell me what?"

"How the Guardians found Rose and her mom." He was like a child on Christmas, bouncing up and down in his chair.

"No." Abe answered slowly. "Do I want to know?"

"I'd like to know." Dimitri stated and I saw nods from Christian, Eddie, and Mason. I'd already told the girls how I ended up in the Academy. Lissa and Jill both thought it was hysterical, Mia already knew because she'd gone to the same school and read it in all of the papers.

"Let's just say that when I refer to 'Tricky Dicky,' I'm not talking about Richard Nixon." The boys and my dad started cracking up, but Dimitri looked lost.

"Richard Nixon was an American President that was involved in the Watergate Scandal, and lied about it, he then received the nickname 'Tricky Dicky.'" I explained. "Dick is a nickname for Richard, don't ask me why. It doesn't make sense to me."

"That still doesn't explain how an American ex-President connects with your capture."

"Oh, Dimitri." Mia sighed. "Rose and I went to the same high school before she was captured and I was sent on the run. This kid named Jesse, a real prick, kept harassing her, really every girl, but Rose didn't give in. He tried a more _forceful_ approach and Rose didn't take kindly to that." Dimitri, bless his heart, still looked lost.

"I bent his dick, Babe." I stated plainly. Dimitri's eyes widened before he snorted.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I narrowed my eyes at him and he lovingly took my hand and kissed it. "I mean, he had it coming. Serves him right."

"That's better." I grumbled, pacified.

"Well, let's just say that Jesse is pretty much harmless nowadays. From what I've heard, he's still a jerk, but no one is bothered by it anymore. Once work got out about his disfigured member, he lost any control he ever had." Adrian commented still smirking.

The laughter from the other males at the table had died down and the mood was beginning to plummet again. My thoughts turned back to Victor. I didn't know what we were going to do. Getting to Russia wasn't a problem, finding him was. We had old blueprints of the facilities and word through the grapevine that he was actually going to be there.

He was building an army of Spiriteds, for what? We didn't know. I could feel worry in the pit of my stomach. Victor was getting close to finding what he wanted. I had a sickening feeling that I was it. I glanced around the table wondering how many of us were going to make it out of this war. Victor was dangerous and with Projects and the Dead on his side, I didn't know what was going to happen.

I then realize, Dimitri and I's power of vita-mortokinesis was useless against Victor's loaned power. It was impossible to bring death to those that were already dead, and giving life back to them would be challenging.

My hand tightened around Dimitri's and he looked over at me with a small smile. He'd probably come to the same conclusion I had: in order to come out of this on top, Victor would have to be killed.

With that information in my mind, I took a deep breath, calming myself.

"I have a plan."


	20. Chapter 20

"This is a stupid plan." Dimitri muttered beside me as we stood in a tight circle.

"Well, I didn't see anyone else trying to come up with a better one." I responded, but he kept grumbling. I rolled my eyes and looked around the circle at my friends, and family. It was weird thinking that I had a real blood-relative again. After Mom was killed, I didn't think that I would ever find my father or any aunt or uncle.

I knew Mom had a sister, Alberta, but I'd never met her, and I knew nothing about Abe's family. My friends had become my family, and I was alright with that.

"Are you sure about this, Rose? It's not too late to decide against this." Abe said for like the third time.

"I'm sure, Old Man. Unless you have a better plan?" I asked just a little hopeful. He shook his head and gave me an apologetic smile. "Alright, then let's do this."

We all joined hands. I was in between Dimitri and Abe. They both gave my hand an encouraging squeeze as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I'd only used my teleportation three times: to get to Russia, to get back from Russia, and to get here.

With Dimitri's help, we'd decided to teleport into a larger city in Russia, scout the place, looking for signs that pointed toward a Guardian presence. If we located them, I would allow myself to get captured to find Victor's location. If I found him, I was to get out as quickly as possible, taking as many Projects as possible.

Once I'd come in contact with Victor, I'd have no problem finding him in the future. Needless to say, everyone thought my plan was stupid, but after hours of thinking, they couldn't come up with something better. So, we went with my plan.

"You have the place in mind?" I asked looking over at Dimitri lovingly. He brought my hand up to his lips, placing a soft kiss there.

"I do." He smiled as a shiver went down my spine.

 _"Later, Comrade. When we're alone."_

 _"I can't wait, Roza."_ He smirked at me but quickly turned serious again.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's do this." I said again. I let myself lock on to Dimitri's spirit. His presence next to me was overwhelming when I opened up to him. His senses overpowered mine and for a moment, I was him.

I dove into his memory. Suddenly, I was in a dark parking lot. The streetlamps that littered the lot were few and far between, leaving a lot of dark space. The memory was strong, though. Something eventful must have happened here for the memory to be this strong, but I wasn't about to ask him.

My mind started building the scene around us, letting the memory become real. I felt Dimitri stiffen beside me as the actual stimuli entered his senses. I squeezed his hand in reassurance, and he squeezed back.

When I was sure I was done, I opened my eyes. Adrian and Abe were looking around them with a bewildered look on their faces. Everyone else had experienced teleportation before, but in my opinion, it was still surreal every time I did it.

Dimitri kept hold of my hand as the rest of us released each other, moving toward the abandoned building in front of us.

"You're amazing, Roza." Dimitri whispered in my ear as we followed the others, lagging behind. I felt a blush creep onto my face.

"I love you, Dimitri."

"I love you, too, Roza." He pulled me to a stop and used the hand that wasn't tangled in mind to cup my face as he leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against mine. He pulled back to kiss the tip of my nose and then my forehead. I released a contented sigh to which he chuckled. "Promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise me that if something goes wrong, that you'll come back to me immediately. It doesn't matter if you've met Victor or not, if you aren't safe, come back to me." His eyes bore into mine intensely. It went against every fiber of my being to make such a promise, but I doubt that he would let me go if I didn't.

"I promise, Comrade. Don't worry, though, I'll be safe." He didn't look any less worried, in fact, he looked more worried. I really did mean it, though. I would come back if things weren't safe for me. I wasn't prepared to leave Dimitri, I doubt I ever would be. I could feel it in my soul that this man was my forever, and I planned on using every possible second of that forever.

He finally got over his worry enough to pull me the rest of the way to the building where the others were waiting for us. They'd already cleared a space for us to rest. We decide it best to sleep for the night and wait for daylight before wondering around an unfamiliar city. We hoped with a good night's sleep, things would go smoother.

Each couple had already curled up together. Abe and Adrian were both sitting and chatting more about the information that we had gathered. Dimitri laid down further from the group and pulled me down next to him. I felt Abe look over at us, but I didn't feel any malice toward Dimitri in the look. I felt the worry that radiated off every member of the group, but Abe's worry was for me and me alone.

Abe knew that Dimitri was the one that was going to get me through this without incident, and he respected that. Over the few hours of planning, I think he'd come to realize that Dimitri was in it for the long haul. I looked over at him and gave a reassuring smile, which he promptly returned.

I snuggled into Dimitri's chest, and his hand started stroking my hair. I fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

When I awoke there was a feeling of dread that coursed through my body. I wasn't nervous about what I was about to have to do.

No. This was different. I sat up, careful not to wake the sleeping Russian next to me, and looked around. It was still dark outside, making it dark inside. I heard the wind howling, causing the building we were in to creek and moan.

After my eyes adjusted to the darkness I looked over to where the others were sleeping. I saw eight lumps on the ground in various positions. No one stirred as I quietly got to my feet. Something didn't feel right, and I was on edge. The windows of the building were covered in dirt and dust, the layer too thick and old to really be removed, but I wiped at the glass as well as I could to look outside.

The waxing moon shone overhead, illuminating the darkness just barely, but it was enough to see by. From what I could see of the parking lot, it was empty. The street that followed alongside the woods in front of me was deserted, but I felt eyes on me.

The dreadful sensation was still there and I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. I decided to split myself up and cover more ground. Not putting much thought into who came out, Rosie and Rosemarie were soon standing beside me. I put my finger to my lips indicating that they should remain quiet.

 _"What are we doing?"_ Rosemarie asked.

 _"Something's wrong, and I can't cover the entire building so we're going to split up. Each of you pick a direction and scout it, if anything is out of the ordinary, tell me right away."_

 _"Should we wake someone up?"_ Rosie asked looking cautiously at the sleeping figures.

 _"I don't want to alarm them if it turns out to be nothing."_ I responded, though I would've felt better if Dimitri was awake, but again, I didn't want to wake him for nothing. Both of them nodded at me and picked a direction before soundlessly walking away. I turned and walked in the direction that they didn't pick, carefully edging my way around the sleeping masses. I hesitated as I moved past Dimitri but kept going anyway.

After clearing off the window, I peered out. This side of the building was backed against the woods. I squinted into the tree line, trying to make sense of the shadows that formed there. A movement to my right caught my eye. There was a figure moving slowly toward the building. It was trying to stick to the shadows, but the expanse between the trees and the building didn't provide cover for him.

With my suspicions confirmed, I ran back to the group and shook Dimitri awake.

"Comrade, there's someone outside!" Dimitri had been slowly working his way out of sleep but as soon as I told him that he was on his feet, pushing me behind him defensively.

"Abe!" Dimitri whisper-yelled in my father's direction. He, like Dimitri, was quick to his feet as we alerted him to an invader.

Rosie and Rosemarie quickly worked their way over to me and Dimitri. It didn't take long for Dimitri to become a little distracted by the three of us.

"Focus, Dimitri. How did someone find us?" He shook his head to clear his thoughts as Abe was making his way over to us. The three couples on the floor in front of us sat, alert and ready to take orders.

"I don't know. I do know that if it's just one person they're probably just scouting the area. How long do you think you could cloak us?" He asked looking over his shoulder at me. I pressed my body closer to his, drawing more strength from him.

"I'm not sure, but probably for a while. It would be easier if we were in a tighter group, though." I said looking around the space that separated all of us. Without being told, my friends got up and moved to where Dimitri, Abe and myselves were standing.

We huddled together and I focused on cloaking us, and just in time too. As soon as I'd place the shield, the door at the back of the building creaked open allowing some of the moonlight to shine through. The silhouette of a man stood in the doorway. On his shoulder was a bird.

 _"Why is a pirate looking for you guys?"_ Rosie asked sarcastically and I fought back a laugh.

"Abe?!" The figure in the doorway said. Abe moved slightly out of the group huddle, squinting his eyes at the figure across the room.

"Pavel?" He asked. If the figure was in fact Pavel, he looked around the room trying to find the source of the voice, but since I had Abe cloaked, he didn't find it.

"Abe? Where are you?" Abe turned back to me and nodded with a smile. I dropped the veil and allowed us to be seen.

Dimitri still had me pushed behind him, unsure whether to trust the new stranger.

"Pavel? What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

"Yeva sent me, said that you could use some extra force. This one begged to come along, and it wasn't like I could stop her." He said motioning toward the bird on his shoulder. The bird gave an annoyed screech and flew off his shoulder before landing a few feet away.

Before my eyes, the bird turned into a girl. The girl had brown hair and brown eyes. She was slightly taller than me, but she looked familiar.

"Vika?" Dimitri said from in front of me.

"Hey, Dimitri. Long time, no see." She said with a smirk.

"Vika, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help. Babushka said the you could use all the help you could get." She responded. "So, here I am." Dimitri fell silent and continued to look at the girl in front of him.

I peeked out from behind Dimitri. Abe and Pavel were chatting animatedly, and the girl, Viktoria, was looking between Dimitri and the two other me's. There was a confused look on her face as she was trying to piece together what was standing before her. Dimitri pulled himself out of wherever he had been and moved from in front of me.

"Viktoria, this is my Roza. She's Spirited also, very powerful. These are her alter egos, Rosie and Rosemarie." Each waved to Viktoria in turn but stayed silent, taking in the newcomers. "Roza, this is my sister Viktoria."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Viktoria." I waved at her. She came rushing over and engulfed me in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you, Roza. Please, call me Vika." I returned her hug and when I pulled back, Vika had a huge smile on her face, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Alright, all." Abe's voice brought us back to the situation at hand. "Pavel just informed me that he knows where the compound is near here. There have been confirmed sights of Victor, so we're going to move on to the next part of the plan."

I felt Dimitri stiffen beside me. The next part of the plan meant that I was going in alone. Dimitri couldn't go with me and he was having a hard time with that.

"It's going to be alright, Comrade. I'll be fine." And for his sake, I hope I was right.


	21. Chapter 21

"Alright! You can ease up on your grip. It hurts like hell!" I yelled at the Guardian that was currently pushing me down a long white hallway. I'd been successfully "caught" by the Guardians and they immediately delivered me to The Academy nearest them. I'd been informed that Victor wanted to have a personal chat with me, but until that happened I was to be kept isolated.

The Guardian that was cutting off the circulation to my arm finally released me, pushing me into a large room with other people.

 _'So much for keeping me isolated.'_ I thought smugly.

I looked around at the people in the room with me. Most were sitting at the provided tables, staring off into space. From the crazed look in their eyes, I could tell the "downsizing" hadn't started here, of course, this seemed to be a larger compound than the one in Pennsylvania. I guess they were starting with the smaller ones and working up to the larger ones.

Those that weren't completely out of it were chatting quietly in small groups. I didn't think anyone had noticed my arrival until I felt someone watching me. I quickly scanned the room once more before my eyes landed on a short figure with auburn curls. I froze where I stood, unable to comprehend the sight before me.

She stared back at me not looking surprised in the slightest.

"I've been waiting for you, Rosemarie." Her sweet voice reached me and I felt tears well in the corners of my eyes.

"Mom?" I asked hesitantly, slowly walking over to where she stood. "Mom, is that really you?" When she nodded and opened her arms to me, I threw myself at her, weeping.

"Hush, darling. I'm here now, but you've still got a job to do." She whispered in my ear. I pulled back to look at her. She had a knowing smirk on her face as she used the pad of her thumbs to wipe the tears off my face. "I know you never realized it, but I am Spirited. Clairvoyance is my gift, I knew what needed to be done. I know you have questions, and I promise after all of this is said and done, I will answer all of them, but you need to listen to me. They're going to come back for you soon, and you're going to meet Victor, but you cannot leave immediately after you meet him. You _must_ wait until he comes back the second time. After that, you need to get out as quickly as possible."

I nodded, still in shock that my mother, who I believed to be dead for almost three years, was standing in front of me. She looked the same, maybe a little thinner, but she looked happy.

"I must say, I'm impressed that Dimitri let you go. I didn't expect him to give in so easily." I laughed, getting Dimitri to leave me alone long enough for the Guardians to find me had been the most difficult part of this mission so far. Though if that was the hardest part, the rest should be a piece of cake. I hugged her close to me again.

"It's good to see you again, Mom. I missed you." I mumbled into her hair. I felt her squeeze me harder before releasing me just before the door to the room slammed open. Three Guardians came rushing in, eyes alert and looking for me.

To save them the trouble of looking like idiots any longer, though it was funny, I stepped forward with a little wave of my hand. I resigned myself and let them lead me out the door, but not before looking back at my mother. She gave me a firm nod and a small smile as I was escorted out.

"Again, with the harsh grip? Really?" I grumbled to the Guardians on either side of me. I was going to have so many bruises up and down my arms after this was all said and done.

Neither of them responded to me, but instead, tightened their grip, pushing me faster down the long corridor. I tried to keep track of the different hallways we turned down in case I needed to get back to my mother so we could leave quickly, but there were too many to keep them all straight. I was pretty sure that we looped back through some hallways and then I finally realized they were trying to mess with my brain.

Ten minutes later, the Guardian on my right unlocked a door, and both of them practically threw me inside. Inside the room was a large steel table with a metal chair on either side. There was a mirror on one wall that, if I had to guess, was two-way glass. It's exactly what you would picture when thinking of an interrogation room. I rolled my eyes as the Guardians, very loudly, closed the door and locked it.

Seeing as I was stuck here for a bit longer, I sat in the chair facing the mirror, placing a bored look on my face. I pushed the chair away from the table and rested my boot-clad feet up on the surface, leaning back in my chair, causing it to tilt backwards. I perched in this precarious position studying my nails for a few minutes before I heard the door unlock.

I lowered my hands from where they were raised to my face for closer inspection and turned my head slightly in the direction of the door, unconcerned. A Guardian stepped through the threshold, looking around observing any potential dangers, but there was only me. I lifted two fingers to my forehead in a mock salute to him, but he astutely ignored me as he leant back into the hallway giving the all clear.

I plastered an angelic smile on my face as a man in his late forties entered the room. He returned my smile, though his was less angelic and more demonic. My revulsion toward this man grew in the pit of my stomach as I lowered my feet from the table and stood to greet him. I stuck out my hand, which he took in between his cold clammy ones.

"Rose Hathaway, sir. It's a pleasure." His demonic smile turned into a demonic smirk, equally as unsettling.

"Ms. Hathaway, I've heard so much about you. I'm Victor Dashkov. I'm the director of the Guardians and am in charge of the Project Program." I nodded just to keep myself from punching him. The man in front of me was the cause of so much strife and broken families. He truly believed in his cause, and was using it to further his agenda.

I could see where a government might mistake his demeanor as dedicated and intelligent, but all I saw was a power-hungry, evil man. I tried to quell the growing sinister feeling I was having as he continued to hold my hand in his. He just stared at me with his demonic smirk and I couldn't fight off the sneer that crept its way onto my face. He chuckled at my expression but soon released my hand.

"How may I help you today, Mr. Dashkov?" I asked a little uneasy, the silence that filled the room as he just stared at me was almost deafening.

"Please, call me Victor." He said in a sickly-sweet tone. "I just have a few questions that I'm hoping you can answer. If you wouldn't mind."

 _'Like I have a choice.'_ I tried my best to smile, but I don't think my face did it right. I nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"I'd like to know your gifts. _All_ your gifts." He added the last part, letting his smile drop. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave any of them out, like you did at your last Academy."

"I understand." I said with a smirk, to which his eyes narrowed. "I can pretty much do anything, if I put my mind to it, but I'm particularly gifted with duplication and telekinesis."

"Would you mind demonstrating?" He asked with a little too much interest, but I complied.

I brought out Rosie and Rosemarie, and they stood quietly on either side of me.

"Can you only do two?" He seemed kind of disappointed that I'd only produced two copies of myself so I brought out six more of me. His eyebrows rose in surprise before the smirk returned to his face. "And the telekinesis?"

Watching him intently, he eyes were fixed on my duplications but widened in shock as I raised them all at once. Rosie and Rosemarie were expecting it and didn't even seem fazed, but the rest of them flailed a little before shooting me a small glare.

"Fascinating." He whispered mostly to himself. I quickly recombined myself, and as soon as I did, his eyes snapped back to the original me. "You said you could do anything?"

"If I put my mind to it." I amended.

"Could you be forced?" He asked evilly and I narrowed my eyes at him, calculating my answer. "Hypothetically, of course."

"Of course. I doubt that I could be forced to do anything that I didn't want to do." I stated plainly. There was no way he was going to be able to force me into anything, especially if it was to help him.

"We'll have to see about that." His smirk stayed firmly in place as he stood from the table and moved toward the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes with a few things I'll need to do further evaluations. Please, wait here."

I nodded silently and watched him exit the room. Once he was out, the door was closed and locked. I let out a loud sigh, thankful that Victor wasn't in the same room with me anymore. I could see that he would thrive in a political setting, but as a person, he was just plain creepy.

I shivered as my body recalled what his hands felt like on mine. They were cold to the touch and the skin felt lifeless, almost as if he himself were dead.

The original plan was for me to leave as soon as I had my first meeting with Victor, but Mom said to wait until he had come for the second time. I didn't know the reason behind it, but I decided to listen to my mother. Plus, I'd hoped to see her again, but if I was locked in this room until he came back, that wasn't going to happen.

Dimitri wasn't going to be happy with me, but I was curious to see what Victor wanted and what he was going to bring back with him. My heart rate increased as my mind ran through all the possibilities, but settled on the most disturbing, like torture devices. I tried to tell myself I was being ridiculous, but my mind would hear nothing of it, and continued to feed me grisly images of my impending doom.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize that Victor was back until he sat right in front of me. I kept the shock off my face and looked around the room. There were a few men, most of them looked like walls of muscle, but the one that caught my eye was backed into a corner. The crazed look in his eyes alerted me to his potential, and I knew he was the most dangerous one in the room.

As I stared at him, his eyes became focused and his gaze locked with mine. The steely look in his eyes soften a bit as he took in my appearance.

"You're like me." He said quietly. I gave him a small smile and nodded. Suddenly his look turned panicked. "You're not going to use her, are you, brother?"

Victor's eyes flashed in annoyance before he masked it and turned to his brother.

"Of course not, Robert. I just want to know what she can do, that's all. I'm not going to do anything untoward to her." While it shouldn't have, the statement made me feel a little bit better about his reasons for being here. Robert's face softened again and his gaze turned back to me. I turned my attention back to Victor, looking at him expectantly.

"As you may have guessed, this is my brother, Robert. He, too, is Spirited and has been helping me locate a Spirit user with a particular gift." Robert shifted uncomfortable in his corner, but didn't say anything, probably in fear of retribution from his brother. "I do believe that you are the lucky individual that possesses my required gift."

"And what makes you think that, even if I do have what you're looking for, that I'm going to help you?" I asked smugly, but turned anxious as the devious smirk grew into a chilling smile.

"I have my ways." He said, nodding to the Guardian near the door. Upon opening the door, a woman entered.

She was beautiful, if you ignore the large burn scars that covered half of her body, but she wore them proudly. She, too, wore a demonic smile as she let her eyes rest on me. She had a lighter in her hands and was swirling it around her fingers, the flame dancing with the movement.

"Hi. I'm Tasha."


	22. Chapter 22

"You must be Christian's aunt." I said, unfazed by her attempt to shake me. She was trying her best to be intimidating, but even with her scars, she just couldn't pull it off. It was actually laughable.

"You know Christian?" She asked, sounding a little bitter as she asked it. It appears that she didn't think highly of her nephew, probably because he was responsible for her disfigurement. I couldn't understand what would make a person attack their own family just for money.

"Yeah. He's one of my friends that I made at the Academy in Virginia. He's a real hot head." I laughed at the dark expression that crossed her face. When I laughed, her eyes narrowed threateningly, which made me laugh more. I wiped at tear of mirth from the corner of my eye before continuing. "So, what are you doing here, Natasha?"

"I've been brought in as a sort of…specialist." She said grinning maliciously. "I'm here to make sure Victor gets what he wants, and right now he wants your help. So, really, I'm here to make you break."

"Like that's going to happen." I snorted at her. The grin dropped from her face. "I don't think there's anything that you could do to me that will make me feel inclined to help you. Especially if your thing is fire." I said gesturing toward the lighter she'd been playing with earlier.

"You've no idea what I can do to you. Don't test me." She growled quietly, placing her hands on the table beside me and leaning in.

"You're welcome to try, but I doubt you're going to get very far."

"Now, now, ladies. No need to get testy." Victor said cutting our banter short. I smirked up at Tasha, but she returned my smile with a glare and straightened herself, stepping away from me. "Natasha, you will get your turn with Rosemarie, but you will have to be patient."

"Yes, Victor." Tasha ground out, her eyes still on me.

"Rosemarie." Victor began turning his attention back on me. "I would advise you to just comply. It would be easier on all parties involved."

"I'm going to have to say 'no,' Victor." I told him in a mockingly apologetic tone. "You can do anything you want to me, but you're not going to get what you want from me."

"I feared you'd say that." Victor sighed. "However, I like you, Rosemarie. So, I'm going to leave you here for a little while so you can think it over. I do hope you'll change your mind."

"Take your time, Victor. I'll be here when you get back." I said sweetly. Tasha had continued to glare at me throughout my exchange with Victor, but when he mentioned returning, her face morphed into something more sinister. I actually thought about being a little scared of her, but decided she wasn't worth my fear.

Without another word to me, Victor stood from his seat and exited the room. Tasha followed immediately, like a trained dog. However, Robert was not as quick to follow and hesitated several tense moments before he nodded in my direction and left. Once Robert was out of the room, the Guardians quickly shut and locked the door.

I waited a few moments before I closed my eyes, finding Dimitri almost immediately. I smiled as I pictured myself with him. His smile wide as he wrapped me in his arms and kissed my forehead. I imagined his scent as I kissed the underside of his jaw, his muscles flexing under my fingers. I could almost hear the soft growls he released when I ran my fingers through his hair. I built the world around me, but I focused on the man I wanted to be with.

"Roza!" His voice entered my ears, causing my smile to widen. I opened my eyes to find my sweet Russian looking quite relieved

"Comrade." I smirked up at him as he rushed to gather me into his arms. "I wasn't gone that long, you know?"

"It was the longest six hours of my life." He grumbled.

"I'll try not to be so long next time. I gathered a lot of information from my conversations with Victor, though I did have some interesting events occur that weren't focused around Victor." Dimitri's eyes widened as he quickly stepped back and scanned my body for any injuries. "Don't worry, Dimitri. I'm fine. They didn't do anything to me. I'm not hurt."

"Yeah? Then what are these?" He asked with a murderous tone motioning toward the bruises on my arms.

"Alright, fine. The Guardians were a little forceful when it came to leading me places, but that's it. I promise, Comrade, I'm perfectly fine. They're just bruises. They will heal." He looked less than thrilled about the thought of me being manhandled, but he was going to have to get over it.

I looked around the building we were standing in. It looked a lot different in the daylight. There were piles of old industrial equipment, I didn't know what it all did, and there wasn't enough to piece things together. A thick layer of dust was covering every surface, and glass littered the floor near the windows. Someone had been gracious enough to board up the windows, probably trying to keep people from accessing the building. I didn't seem like anyone had used this warehouse in a very long time.

Abe was chatting quietly with Pavel, most-likely catching up on all they had missed, and my other friends had taken Vika into their group. They were all sitting in a circle, talking and laughing as if they'd all been best friends for the longest time. It appears that Dimitri had just been pacing since I'd left. I could see the well-worn path he'd created in the dust. He'd been pacing in front of the door I'd left through, never straying from the three feet to either side of the door.

"So, what have you been up to while I was away?" I asked looking up at him, knowing full well what he'd been doing.

"I haven't been able to think straight since you walked out that door, so I've been doing nothing. Well, nothing except pacing and worrying." He told me, retightening his hold on me. He littered my hair with soft kisses. I was actually surprised that no one else had noticed Dimitri stop pacing and my return, but I was happy to have this semi-private moment just between us.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. And if I can't fight my way out of anything, I can just teleport myself. Victor is probably cursing himself for leaving me alone." I said laughing. It appeared that my laugh was the thing to bring the others out of their respective conversations and run over to where we were standing. They tried to pull me from Dimitri's grasp, but I was held firmly in place by two very strong arms.

The only people that seemed to mind were Abe and Pavel. I rolled my eyes at their disapproving looks as Dimitri pulled me closer, my back to his front. His eyes were narrowed in a challenge. While I was sure that Dimitri could take Abe in a fight, I was unsure of Pavel, considering he had the strength of at least ten men.

"Stop it. All of you." I said sternly, elbowing Dimitri lightly in the side.

"Sorry, Roza." He mumbled in my ear, sounding anything but sorry. He placed a light kiss at my temple and continued to stare down my father and his friend. My father noticed every little move that Dimitri made, from the light kiss to the way his hand caressed my hip as his arm was crossed over my body. My friends, however, seemed oblivious to the power display that was happening right now, and just looked confused between me and the three staring men. I stepped quickly out of Dimitri's grasp and marched right up to Abe, point a finger in the middle of his chest.

"I mean it! Stop with the staring. Abe, I told you before at the house, you're going to have to deal with it. Dimitri's proved, several times, that he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect me. Pavel, I don't really know you, and you don't really know me or Dimitri, so both of you, stop throwing silent daggers and deal with it." As I concluded my speech, Dimitri wrapped an arm around my waist, rubbing my hip in a soothing manner.

"We just want what's best for you, Rose." Abe said with a loving look toward me.

"The best is Dimitri." I said firmly. "He's going to be a permanent fixture in my life. I want him here and he wants to be here. So, I say, yet again, deal with it."

"Right, well, I'm Pavel. I'm your father's best friend. For a time, I was his bodyguard until he ditched me somewhere to go and find his long-lost daughter." Pavel said extending a hand with a warm smile, though he continued to glance at Dimitri uneasily. "I know I don't know you and you don't know me, but I'm very invested in your well-being and I just wish to see you happy. If happy means being with Dimitri, then I'm all for it."

"Thank you, Pavel. I'm Rose. I'm sure you've already been introduced to everyone else, other than Dimitri because someone couldn't stop pacing and trust I knew what I was doing." I said with a pointed look at Dimitri. He at least had the decency to blush, but he soon was defending himself.

"It's not that I didn't trust you to know what you were doing, Roza. I just don't trust any of the Guardians to know what they're doing and I sure as hell don't trust Victor to keep his evil hands off of your powers." He finished with a low growl. His grip on me had tightened to the point where it almost hurt, but he quickly realized that he might be hurting me, and loosened his arms slightly. He did, however, keep me very firmly pressed against him.

Abe had been using this time to study Dimitri and the way he interacted with me and I with him. He apparently approved of what he found, because he stopped glaring at Dimitri altogether. Abe's hand jutted forward, suddenly, reaching for Dimitri in a truce of sorts. Dimitri looked a little hesitant to take his peace offering, but with a nudge from me, he also extended his hand. I couldn't help but smile at the progress I'd just made.

"So, little girl, I'm assuming since you're back, that you've met with Victor and you have news for the rest of us to hear." Abe said, turning his full attention to me.

"That I do. I know what Victor is looking for and he thinks he's going to get it from me. He has Tasha Ozera working with him to ensure that Projects comply with his demands." I reported looking wearily in Christian's direction. "I'm really sorry, Christian."

"Don't be, Rose. You didn't know her before I was in the Academy and you don't really know her now. I didn't think she'd be crazy enough to actually kill my parents, but she's always been a little unstable. I've never really thought about her as close family, and now, I don't think I could really think of her as family at all." I nodded. He seemed to be telling the truth, though he did look a little betrayed knowing that it was his aunt that killed his mom and dad.

"Is that all you found out, Rose?" Abe asked.

"No. Victor has also roped his brother, Robert, into all this. Robert doesn't seem to be the kind of person that would hurt anyone, but his brother is extremely persuasive. I'm assuming that the only reason Robert is helping Victor at all, is because they're brothers." I said a little saddened that Robert had to be pulled into his brother's crazy schemes.

"Well, that was to be expected. Most Projects, especially the older ones, don't really possess the mental capacity to make informed decisions. If Robert is around the same age as his brother, there's no telling how much he's actually able to think for himself."

"I will say that Robert can recognize one of his own, another Spirited, I mean. He was very hesitant to allow Victor to use me for his intended purpose. I think Robert knows what Victor is doing to Projects, and in his own way, is trying to prevent Victor from achieving his goals."

"Alright, before you get into the nitty gritty details of his master plan, was there anything else we should know that will help us formulate a plan of attack?" I hesitated at Abe's question, trying to make up my mind on whether or not to tell him the truth.

"There is something you should know." I said slowly. I looked up at my father, carefully studying his reaction.

"Something important? I'm assuming from your hesitation that you're worried how I might react. I promise, I can take anything you throw at me." Abe said confidently. However, when I told him, he seemed to become unsteady on his feet, Pavel actually stepping in to provide support.

"Mom's alive."


	23. Chapter 23

"Your mother is alive?" He asked with a quiet voice. I nodded, eyeing him with caution. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's at the Academy that I was taken to. She seems to be doing well, she hasn't changed a bit since I last saw her." I told him as a look of love crossed his face. "But I don't understand, I thought she had died. I watched her die."

"Your mother was gifted, like you and like me, with multiple gifts. One of hers was duplication. She used it often to elude capture or to avoid detection, providing herself with an alibi." He chuckled at the thought. "She had always put on a front that she was a goody-two-shoes, but she was just as devious, if not more, than myself when it came down to it."

"So, she just escaped and left me to the Guardians?" I asked a little salty. I'd just found out my mother was alive, but she left me for the past two years to be locked up in an Academy compound.

"How long had she been in the compound?" Abe asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Well, I'm sure if she talked to you, she told you she was clairvoyant, so she probably did it for a good reason. Just think, if you'd never been placed in the Academy, you wouldn't have met Dimitri." He said kindly but looked calculatingly at Dimitri, still trying to decide if he was really alright with him dating his daughter.

"I suppose you're right. I don't know if I could picture a life without knowing Dimitri." I said looking up at my Comrade. The smile that covered his face was breathtaking.

"I feel the same way, Roza. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you beside me." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips, but pulled back, aware that he was still a few feet from my father. I snuggled back into his chest, his arms wrapped firmly around my waist and looked back to Abe and Pavel.

Abe, for the most part, had recovered from the initial shock, and now it was Pavel's turn to look shocked.

"You alright there, Pavel?" I asked slightly amused at the man's expression. His eyes became focused at my question, and he looked at me with a quiet intensity. I don't think he meant it threateningly, but I felt Dimitri tense behind me, a quiet growl rumbled in his chest. "What's wrong?"

"We need to get her out." He said. "We can't leave her in there for much longer?"

"Why not?" Abe asked in a slightly panicked voice.

"She told me, years ago, that when her daughter discovered the truth, we'd need to act fast. We don't have more than three days, so whatever we are planning on doing, we need to get a move on it."

"What else did you discover in your time there?" Abe asked, his attention turned back to me and the information that I had gained.

"There isn't much else. Victor didn't really explain his whole evil plot to me. It's not like in the movies where he does the entire evil monologue thing to the protagonist. I was shoved into an interrogation room, and left there to sweat for a little bit, but I didn't. Victor came in, looking as evil as I would have expected him to, and then he asked me about my abilities. I told him I could do anything if I put my mind to it, and he wanted me to put my mind to something, but he didn't inform me of what that was." I told everyone.

"Where does my aunt come into all of this?" Christian asked.

"She was brought in when I refused Victor the first time. She was a "specialist" and planned on torturing me to gain my compliance. We exchanged a few words before Victor stepped in to stop the bickering. He asked me again to comply with his demands stating it would be best for all parties involved, but I, again, refused. He told me he'd let me think it over because he liked me so much. I think it's because he knew there was no chance he was going to be able to torture it out of me, so he was hoping that by leaving me to think about the torture, I'd give in."

"So, he didn't hurt you? Just threatened pain?" Dimitri clarified.

"Right. I waited a few minutes to make sure they weren't coming back and then I joined Comrade here, putting an end to his pacing."

"I wasn't pacing." Dimitri defended.

"Really? Then what is that path worn into the dust for?" I asked raising a questioning eyebrow. He glared playfully at me, but soon turned his attention to Abe.

"What are we going to do? I refuse to leave Rose's side. After six hours without her, not knowing if she was okay, I will not do it again. If we're split up, I won't be able to focus at all." He said, gripping my waist tighter.

"I wasn't planning on splitting you two up. You seem to work better together." Abe said appraisingly. "I was hoping that you two could duplicate and get stuff accomplished that way."

I smirked up at Dimitri and pulled out Rosie and Rosemarie. Dimitri hesitated for a second before pulling out Dimka and Big D.

"Yes!" Big D shouted. "I'm free at last! And you," he said pointing to Rosemarie, "are all mine." To my surprise Rosemarie smiled deviously and threw herself at Big D, her legs wrapping around his hips and her arms around his neck, planting a sold kiss on his surprised lips.

"It's good to see you again, Big D." She whispered in his ear in a teasing tone. Big D gulped and stayed silent, which was a first.

Rosie and Dimka were having a full on make out session, with tongue and everything. Dimka had Rosie's waist held tightly to him with one arm while the other was snaked around her back, his hand grabbing a fistful of hair.

"There shouldn't be a problem about breaking up into pairs, then?" Abe asked amused to see our alters being much more attentive to each other than we were. It wasn't that we weren't attentive, it was just that we got to see each other more often than they did, not that that stopped them from communicating with each other through telepathic means.

It could be slightly distracting hearing the conversations that they had with each other in your head, but for the most part they kept it clean, and I could easily block it out. I don't know how it felt for Dimitri, but it was probably similar.

"We should be just fine. We just need to know what we all need to do." I said as out three couples focused on Abe and his growing plan. I didn't know what we were going to have to do, but I hoped that it would go off without a hitch.

"I'm still kind of working on that part." Abe said rubbing the back of his neck.

"You mean to tell me that you don't actually have a plan?" I asked in surprise. Abe always seemed to have a plan for everything, even if something pops out of nowhere.

"I _had_ a plan until you came in her telling me the love of my life was alive and well, but now we have a time constraint and I'm scrabbling to figure something out." He said a little harsh, but that was understandable. I felt my face soften at his words.

"It's okay, Dad. We've still got time. We have a few days to pull this off, it doesn't have to be today. We've got plenty of people to do anything you need to get done. I don't know about Dimitri, but I could probably duplicate myself indefinitely." I said confidently but looked back at Dimitri with a questioning look.

"I should be able to do the same, though it would probably take a lot more energy on my part. But, Rose, we can't forget that you might be producing Darkness. It isn't something to take lightly and you don't know how to control it. It's taken me years to even begin getting a handle on things." Dimitri's face turned concerned.

"I'll be fine, Comrade. You don't need to worry about me. We can figure out what to do about the Darkness when we sort this whole mess out with Victor." I gave him a reassuring smile, but he seemed hesitant to accept my words at face value. I'd actually forgotten all about the Wielder of Death part because, you know, I've been busy.

"I just want you to be safe, Roza." He said quietly, leaning down to kiss my lips. I gave a small sigh of contentment, snuggling into his chest before turning back to my father.

"We need to come up with a plan. I think it best if our duplicates get everyone out of the compound while us originals take care of Victor and Tasha. I really don't think that Robert is going to be a huge problem, but with his dedication to his brother he might become one."

"Could I possibly join you on the quest to take care of my aunt?" Christian asked timidly.

"I think that would be a good idea, Sparky." I said with a smile. I decided I might as well take charge since Abe was still reeling. "Lissa, I need you to stay here, to welcome all the incoming Projects. Some of them won't know what's going on and I need you to reassure them that everything is going to be alright."

"I think I can do that. Just make sure that you come back in one piece." She said in a light voice, but I could see her worry.

"Don't worry, I will. Eddie and Mia, you two will be doing the same thing as Lissa. Just keep everyone calm. Mason and Pavel, you're going to come with us as bodyguards of sorts. I'd be capable of taking care of anyone we come across, but I want to make sure that I have enough energy to take on Victor.

"What about us?" Jill asked, motioning toward herself and Vika. "What are we going to do?"

"You two are going to provide distractions. I don't know what kind of animals you can morph into, Vika, but anything that would provide a decent distraction should work. Jill, I know you can cause some crazy weather occurrence that will have the Guardians running, maybe a lightning storm, or a vortex?" Both nodded and grinned devious smiles.

"What about me?" Abe asked.

"I'm still thinking of something for you to do. It's not like we need to compel our way into the compound, I've got that covered, but I don't know what else. Unless you want to turn yourself invisible and become another distraction? Or I could put you personally in charge of Mom?"

"I'd rather make sure your mother gets out safely." He said decisively.

"Then you'll do that." I said with a nod. "That just leaves you, Adrian."

"I see that, Little Project, but I don't know what use I can be. It's not like reading auras is a particular useful gift when fighting."

"You have a point. So, what do you want to do while the rest of us our doing our parts?" I asked him, feeling kind of bad that he didn't have a bigger part in this mission.

"I think I'll stay here and help with the incoming Projects. I've no doubt that the two pathokinetics can handle them all, but I don't want to get in your way out there, and my charming personality would be more beneficial here." He said with a dazzling smile that made me roll my eyes.

"Alright, you do that. Rosie and Rosemarie, do you think you could get you guys into the commons?" I asked.

"Does Dimitri picture you naked?" Big D scoffed. I looked up at Dimitri in shock, but still with a smirk on my face. "The answer is yes, by the way, to both questions."

"Is that so, Comrade?" I asked as Dimitri's blush deepened.

"Don't listen to him." Dimitri said evasively, causing me to laugh.

"It's okay, Dimitri. She does that same thing." Rosie commented.

"I'm proud to admit it." I answered, glaring at Rosie, but she and Big D were fist-bumping and ignoring me. "Do you need more than the two of you?"

"I think we'll manage with just us." Rosemarie said sweetly as she was curling up next to Big D. "If we need more, we can just duplicate ourselves."

"That will take more energy from you, though." I countered.

"We'll be fine, Mom." Rosie said rolling her eyes. "Trust us."

"Alright. Well, it isn't much of a plan, but I guess we're just going with the flow on most of this. Get the Projects out and back here to Eddie, Mia, Lissa, and Adrian. If you get done with that, help Abe, Jill, and Vika with causing distractions."

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Rose?" Abe asked. "It's not that I don't think that you can do this, I'm just making sure you're ready."

"I'm ready, Old Man." I said confidently taking Dimitri's hand in mine. As long as we stayed together, we could do anything. "You ready, Comrade?"

"Whenever you are." He said lovingly.

"Then let's storm the castle."


	24. Chapter 24

We actually had to wait a few hours before we stormed the castle because Abe thought it best to carry out our mission at night. We had a greater chance of catching people by surprise and a higher likelihood of surviving if we attacked when the movement inside the compound was at a minimum.

In the meantime, Dimitri started teaching me how to control my Darkness.

"It's part of you now, Rose, so you have to accept that you can't get rid of all of it, just some of it." He started by having me sit in a half-lotus position in front of him as he did the same.

He took in a deep breath, shaking out his arms, placing his palms lightly on his knees. His shoulders rolled back, relaxing. His back became straighter, and his eyes closed.

"Focus on your breathing, don't let the Darkness control you. You're in charge of your life, and it doesn't get to dictate what you can and cannot do. Breathe deep, from the diaphragm, not just from your chest." That didn't really make sense to me until I saw him suck in another breath, his entire torso expanded to accommodate the newly-acquired air.

I mimicked his posture and hand position, letting my eyes close. I breathed deep, allowing all of my lungs to be filled with air

"The only thing that should be going through your head right now is the number breath you are on. Count them, keep track of them. When you reach ten without getting distracted, open your eyes." Dimitri instructed. That was easier for him to say, he had practice clearing his mind, while I did not. I was used to my mind racing, grabbing on to one thought and running with it until it found a new thought to cling to, and the cycle continued.

However, I needed to try this if I had any hope of controlling the Darkness raging inside me. I didn't want to think about what I might endure if I let the Darkness take ahold of me. An involuntary shiver went down my spine, and I fought off all thoughts that didn't belong to the number of breaths I'd taken.

 _One._

I filled my lungs full of oxygenated air.

 _Two._

There was a rustle in front of me, but I paid it no mind.

 _Three._

I was faintly aware of voices, but I didn't register anything in my mind other than the next number.

 _Four._

It was easier for me to focus on my breath. The cool air expanding my lungs to their maximum capacity.

 _Five._

The voices were still making noise, but I successfully blocked them out.

 _Six._

My breathing became easier, I didn't have to work so hard at filling my lungs completely, it just happened.

 _Seven._

I felt my body relaxing the longer I sat in this position, making it more comfortable.

 _Eight._

Now that my body was relaxed, I breathed deeper.

 _Nine._

I felt completely at peace, a first outside of the times I spent in Dimitri's arms.

 _Ten._

I opened my eyes, proud of myself, but quickly realized that something was wrong.

"Rose! Come back down!" Dimitri's voice entered my ears, and I realized the voices that I'd blocked out were those of my friends, family, and love.

I was levitating some twenty feet above the air. It's definitely not the highest I'd ever been, but the look of concern was clearly plastered on Dimitri's face. This must be the first time that he's seen me this high. The ceilings in my room weren't that high, maybe twelve feet, and with his height, I wasn't that far from him when I sat there.

I wasn't at the ceiling of the warehouse, though, I was suspended about two-thirds up, still in my half-lotus position, back straight, hands resting on my knees.

"Do I have to, Comrade?" I asked cheekily. His eyes narrowed up at me and a stern look replaced his concerned one.

"You will come down here." He stated, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Will I, now?" I challenged him. "And if I don't, are you going to punish me?"

"Roza." Dimitri whispered warningly.

"Yes, Comrade?"

"Will you please join be back down here on the ground?" He finally said exasperated.

"Why, I thought you'd never ask." I said sweetly as I lowered myself to stand before him.

"Alright, so, meditation might be dangerous for you." He said wrapping me in his arms and holding tight, like I might float away again, but who knows, I might take him with me this time.

"I wasn't in danger. I just wasn't seated on the ground anymore. I've never fallen out of the sky."

"There's a first time for everything." He grumbled. "I don't like it when you're out of my reach." He told me quietly. "It scares me how much I care about you, sometimes."

"I know what you mean." I told him, tightening my hold on him. "I'd rather keep you as close as possible."

"I'm glad you understand." He said sweetly, placing a small kiss on the tip of my nose causing me to giggle. "I think that's the cutest sound you've ever made."

"That's an odd statement, Dimitri." I said laughing. I yawned, the lack of undisturbed sleep finally catching up to me. "Do you think we could take a nap before all hell breaks loose?"

"I think that would be a wise idea." He said looking around to find a suitable spot for us to lie down for a bit. He spotted a quiet corner away from both doors. Taking my hand, he led me to the spot, took off his duster and laid it down so we wouldn't be laying right on top of the layer of dust. He settled himself before holding his arms out to me, beckoning me to join him.

I immediately curled myself into his side as he lay on his back, my head resting on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating. I let out a soft sigh that was rewarded with a soft kiss placed in my hair by Dimitri.

"I love you, Roza."

"I love you, Dimitri. Everything's going to work out, you'll see." I said with a yawn. He didn't respond, instead, he tightened his arms around me, placing another kiss in my hair. Knowing I was safe wrapped in his arms, I fell asleep quickly.

I woke sometime later to Dimitris soft lips placing loving kisses on the back of my neck. It seems that I must have moved in my sleep, and Dimitri followed me in his.

"Mmm…hey, Comrade." I mumbled sleepily, rolling over to face him. His eyes were half-open and filled with sleep, but the love shone bright. I moved closer to him, pressing my lips to his.

"How are you feeling, Roza?" He asked after we broke apart.

"I'm feeling really good." My smile settling his nerves more than my words. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." He sighed, pulling me toward him once more before we got up from our corner and joined the rest of the group.

We'd been the only ones to try sleeping, and while it was only a couple hours, it was exactly what I'd needed to get me through the night.

"Are you ready, Rose?" Abe asked, looking a little hesitant to let me go through with this.

"Yep!" I said rubbing my hands together and pulling Rosie and Rosemarie back out. Dimitri, in turn, took out his alter-egos and they paired up. Mason, Pavel, and Christian were standing next to Dimitri and me. Abe was standing with Rosemarie and Big D, and Jill and Vika were standing with Rosie and Dimka. Eddie, Mia, Lissa, and Adrian were standing off to the side, looking nervous about our departure.

"Remember, we're all meeting in the common room before branching off and completing our assigned tasks." All heads nodded, but no one spoke. "Commons should be deserted at this time of night, but just in case, I'll try and put a cloak around us."

Without another word, Rosie, Rosemarie and I closed our eyes, taking the hands of those in our groups, and began the process or teleportation. It was an odd feeling when Rosie and Rosemarie were also using my power. They had some powers of their own, which also was odd. It was like some of my powers were locked inside of them, but I didn't have access to them, even though they were a part of myself. Teleportation was my own gift, that they did not possess, so they had to borrow some of mine.

I felt a little bit of my power drain from me and go to them. It didn't make me any weaker, it just made the process take a little longer. I felt Dimitri tense to my left, letting me know we'd arrived at our destination. When I opened my eyes and looked around, the common room was empty other than our party. I could hear the faint ticking of a clock and the shuffling of feet as the others broke from their groups.

With Dimitri to my direct left, Christian behind and in between us, and Mason and Pavel flanking the three of us, I nodded to the others and moved quietly out into the corridors. I was aware of the others slipping out behind us, but they headed in the opposite direction, towards where the Projects would be housed. My group moved to Guardian housing. We found a small alcove to hide in as an alarm sounded and several Guardians rushed past.

"I'm thinking the plan is working." I whispered to Dimitri, and he rolled his eyes and motioned for me to move on. One last Guardian ran past, sticking my head from my hiding spot, I saw him turn down the far end of the hallway, toward the front of the compound, probably where Jill and Vika were distracting everyone.

I tried to stop thinking about the others and if they were accomplishing their tasks.

"What the hell is going on, Victor!?" I heard Tasha's annoying voice float from the direction the Guardians had come from, and I turned back to Dimitri with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that Tasha?" He asked quietly and I nodded. "I get what you were saying earlier." I chuckled softly, remembering that I'd told him just the sound of her voice was enough to crumple one's face in disgust.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Christian?" I asked, checking once more to make sure he wanted to confront his aunt for her crimes.

"I'm sure. I need to face her and hold her accountable for what she's done." He said with a fierce determination. I eyed him for a few more moments before nodding sharply and moving us from our spot. Dimitri was hot on my heels, making sure that I wasn't further than arms' reach.

My hand found his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His squeezed back and didn't let go. The hallways were quiet, though the sound of voices could be heard in the direction we were heading.

"Don't be absurd, Natasha." Victor's voice became clearer as we moved toward the sound. "No one could get into this compound. There isn't any way to get in without getting past at least a dozen Guardians."

"Then how did that little bitch of a Project get out?" Tasha's growl answered Victor.

"She probably had help from someone on the inside. You know how Projects are, they like to team up when they find another intellectual, it's a group mentality." Victor responded, sounding unconcerned with the possible intrusion.

"Then what set the alarms off?"

"This is Russia, there are plenty of creatures that could've tripped the alarm, it happens often enough. The Guardians are just checking it out, nothing to be concerned about."

"I don't have a good feeling, Victor. Something's wrong." Tasha's voice sounded a little scared, if my ears weren't deceiving me. I looked behind me to the rest of my party, asking with my eyes if they were ready for an encounter with the mastermind and his little sidekick.

Dimitri's response was a worried look but a quick nod. Christian still wore a determined expression, a fire blazing figuratively in his eyes and literally in his palms. Both Pavel and Mason were sizing up, quite literally. Their muscles grew, as did their stature. I'd seen Mason hulk-out a few times, but he wasn't as big as Pavel. I guess you grow more as you get older. I eyed Pavel in shock, but he just shrugged at me, tilting his head toward the door, encouraging me to take action.

I took a deep breath, calming the storm brewing inside me. I pushed my way into the room where they were. Robert was sitting on a couch with Victor, but looked up when we entered. Victor and Tasha were in the middle of a staring contest, but our entrance cause Tasha to break eye contact. Her eyes widened in shock as we spilled into the space, and Victor turned slightly to see what had captured her attention.

"You should really listen to your sidekick, Victor."


	25. Chapter 25

"Ah, Miss Hathaway." Victor professed unconcerned. "It has been too long. I went back to talk to you earlier today, but found that you'd left us."

"I'm sorry about that, Vic, but I don't like cages. Being locked in a room makes me antsy, I just had to leave. I do hope you understand." I said playing the part of a polite young lady.

"Of course." He said, his unnaturally joyous look fading into his signature demonic smirk. Tasha had been broken out of her shocked state and had also adopted a demonic look, though hers was of anger not arrogance. "Who are these creatures you've brought with you?"

"These are a few other Spiriteds. You see, we have a problem with what you're doing, Victor. We can't let you continue with your crusade." I said slowly making my way around the edge of the room, signaling the rest of my group to spread out also. Our movement made Victor's arrogance slip, momentarily replaced by fear, but he quickly masked his weakness.

"And what do you think you're going to do about it?" Tasha spit out, her eyes trained on me. I don't think she'd even noticed Christian in the room with her. At some point, she'd whipped out her little lighter and started playing with it, as she had done the first time we'd met. "I don't think you could actually do anything to us. You're just a stupid, useless, little bitch of a girl. It's best you leave the world in the hands of the adults."

"I am an adult." I growled, trying not to let her words get to me. I'd never liked Tasha, even before I'd met her, but she wasn't really trying to change my mind about my feelings toward her. I knew I shouldn't let my emotions get in the way of this mission, but I really hated being called a child. "You don't know half of what I can do. If I were you, I'd watch what you say to me."

"Or what?" Tasha scoffed. "Are you going to disappear again? Or do you have a useful ability?"

"I've got plenty, but I'm trying not to use them on you. Someone else has a bone to pick with you." I said gesturing toward Christian. His face had gotten very dark the more he'd glared at Tasha.

"Christian?" Tasha asked, squinting in Christian's direction as if she had trouble seeing him. "What are you doing here? And with _her?_ " She asked jabbing a manicured finger in my direction, her tone turning icy.

"I'm here to get justice for my parents." Christian's voice sounded calm, but you could see the fire raging, threatening to burn us all. "How could you, Aunt Tasha?"

" _How could I?_ " Tasha actually looked shocked that he would ask such a question. "You're parents never did anything for me. I asked for help, for money, but they never did anything for me! I was family and they abandoned me! They abandoned me because you were going through a hard time. I know now that you were going through the transition phase, coming into your powers, but they completely forgot about me, and because of _you._ Because of your kind. I did what I had to."

"You killed people because they were taking care of their child?" I asked, appalled, but Christian's voice drowned mine out.

"My parents gave you money!" He yelled, taking a step in Tasha's direction. At least Tasha had the common sense to take a step back. "They helped you as much as they could, but you didn't want to change and help yourself! You kept running around with those _criminals_ and look what it did. It got my parents killed! You should've died in the house with the rest of your friends."

"You set that fire, didn't you?" Tasha questioned. She took back her smart decision from earlier and took a couple "threatening" steps forward. Christian seemed amused that she was just now figuring out the fire wasn't the accident it was reported as. "You could have killed me! Hell, you killed my friends!"

"They got what they deserved." Christian growled. "You're going to receive the same punishment." Fire sprung to life in the palms of his hands, but instead of the orange, yellow, and red flames, these were much hotter. The blue and purple flames danced over his skin without leaving a trace.

"You don't want to do that, Christian." I soothed, the flames became tinted with red but didn't disappear. His gaze was fixed solely on Tasha. Tasha looked back and forth between me and Christian.

"So, you've teamed up with this bitch?" her earlier fear of Christian's flame vanished and was quickly replaced with anger. "Are you two a thing, or something?"

"I'm going to say 'or something.'" I said from spot across the room.

"Do you even feel bad about it?" Christian asked. "Do you feel any remorse?"

"The only thing I regret was that you weren't home at the same time. You just had to be out with friends. We could've gotten a lot more money if we weren't worried about you coming back any second."

"You're a heartless bitch, Tasha." I stated, feeling the anger swell in my chest. My anger towards Tasha, and my anger at the situation that Christian had to deal with.

"Now, now, children." Victor's voice rang above the response Tasha was about to give. "We're getting off topic."

"What topic is that?" I asked.

"Well, I'm assuming that you came back to tell me you aren't going to help me, right?"

"Indeed."

"Well, in that case, I need to neutralize the threat you pose to me." He said sadly, like he felt bad about his choice.

"You're not going to touch her." Dimitri growled as he moved quickly beside me. He placed his body, mostly, beside me, though he was tense, ready to push me behind him should Victor act on his threat.

"You must be Guardian Belikov." Victor said smiling at his movement. "I heard that you were starting to grow attached to a Project, but I'd never think that you'd act on your feelings. I'd always heard that you were such a level-headed guy. Or did she use her abilities to trick you into this relationship?"

"Hey! I did no such thing!" I defended myself. I felt Dimitri tense, even more, beside me, his fists were clenched and his jaw was strained. I placed a hand gently on his upper arm, calming him significantly. The last thing we needed was to have his Darkness raging.

The problem that occurred, though, was that when I touched him, his Darkness latched onto me. I felt his rage transfer to me. My vision got slightly hazy, the edges tinged with black, my sole focus being Victor, seated in front of me with an arrogant, amused smirk sitting comfortably on his face.

The voice at the back of my mind telling me to stay calm quickly morphed into one of hatred, calling for action, calling for blood.

The Darkness rolled through me, finding all the powers that could be harmful and brought them to the surface. The image of Victor gasping for breath became reality as the air was forced from his lungs, causing him to stumble off the couch, his hands flying to his throat, tearing at the invisible force.

Everything happened so quickly, but I could remember it all. I had allowed Victor to continue breathing. He stumbled to his feet, his eyes wide in terror as he took me in. I was aware that I'd levitated a few inches, bringing me eyelevel with Dimitri, who'd backed away from me, though he continued to try to talk to me. I heard nothing. I registered nothing. All my focus lied with Victor and his life.

I didn't really understand how being a Wielder of Death worked, until now. I could feel his life, as if it was a tangible object I held in my hands. I wrapped my fingers around it, relishing in it as it squirmed in my clutch. I saw the moment Victor realized that I held his life in my hands. The moment when he understood my intentions, and before I could stop myself, his life was crushed, turning to ash in my fingers.

My bloodlust was not satiated, though, so I turned my focus to Tasha. Her eyes widen as she took in Victor's collapsed form. I reached out for her life, but was pulled back by an angelic voice.

"Roza." It whispered to me. The black around my vision started to fade, but I needed to focus on Tasha and her existence.

"Roza." The voice came again.

"Roza." It said again. I closed my eyes, hoping it would help me focus on my mission, but I was met with an image. The man standing in front of me was tall. His brown eyes staring straight into my soul with such intensity I stepped back, but he followed.

"Roza." His voice floated through the surrounding darkness, reaching my mind without seeing his lips move.

"Who are you?" I asked, unsure how to react to my vision.

"Roza. Come back to me." He reached out with a hand. His hands were large, rough, perfect. I started moving my hand forward, finding myself with a desire to touch this man. I hesitated a few inches away. He could have moved forward and grabbed my hand, but he didn't. He waited for me to reach out to him.

"Roza." His voice echoed in the back of my mind. It sounded familiar, peaceful. I placed my hand in his, his thumb coming gently over the back of my fingers. He brought the hand up to his lips, placing a kiss on my knuckles.

"Come with me." He said, turning and pulling me behind him.

"Where are we going?" I asked, looking around the darkness of my mind. "Who are you?"

"Trust me." That was all he said as he led me into the darkness. I found it easy to trust him. Even though his hand was rough against mine, his touch was gentle. If I didn't know better I would have said it was loving, but I didn't know this man, so there was no way he could know me, let alone love me.

"Turn around." His voice told me. We'd gone so far into the darkness that I couldn't see him anymore, but I could feel him. I did as he instructed me. I felt him pull me back toward his chest. One arm snaked around my waist, the other wrapped across my chest, with his hand resting on my shoulder. His chin was resting on the top of my head.

"What are you doing?" I asked, not that I didn't like the new position, but I didn't know why we were here.

"I'm just going to show you a few things." He bent his head, whispering in my ear. My body shuddered as his lips brushed my earlobe. I leaned back against his chest and his arms tightened around me.

"How are you going to show me things if I can't see my hand in front of my face?" I felt him chuckle, and I started to say something else, but a picture began to materialize in front of us.

Standing in front of us was an older version of ourselves. We looked happy. The man also had me wrapped securely in his arms, but I was facing him, placing soft kisses on his jawline. His focus was on the crib beside us. In it was a beautiful baby, from the colors spread around the room it was a boy. The baby was sleeping peacefully, with us just staring at him.

"Thank you, Roza." The man said, turning back to the vision me, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose, which caused her to sigh happily. "I'm so glad to have the both of you."

"We're lucky to have you, Comrade." The vision me said. She wrapped her arms around the back of the man's neck, pulling herself up and him down. Their lips met with so much passion, I had to look away. I didn't know the man behind me, though it seems that he knew me. I wonder who he was?

The vision began to fade as their kisses became more heated. Eventually we were left standing in the darkness of my mind.

"What was that?" I asked quietly staring into the space the vision had once occupied.

"That is the future you're giving up if you continue on the rampage you're on." The man said gently, rubbing my shoulder absentmindedly. His chin had dropped and was now rested on the shoulder his hand wasn't rubbing. "You're giving up a life as a loving mother and a devoted wife. You'll lose a loving husband and a perfect baby boy. You're letting the Darkness consume you. You'll become someone no one will recognize."

"What will I become?"

"Let me show you."


	26. Chapter 26

The earth was silent.

The world was peaceful, like an afternoon stroll through the park. Except that there was no noise. No birds chirping or dogs barking. No child's giggle could be heard, and the rustle of trees was eerily absent.

It was dead silent. Better yet, it was dead.

Even though it shouldn't have been. There were toppling skyscrapers, cracked streets, crushed cars, and broken families. Those that weren't dead were gently easing their bodies off the ground, stumbling through the rubble to find their loved ones. No one was attempting to find the source of the destruction.

The smoke filling the air alerted me to the presence of fire. One would expect to hear the distant sounds of a fire engine or the shouts of helpless people. There should have been noise, but all was silent.

The world was crumbling, and I was standing in the middle of it. Arms at my sides, calm and relaxed – sanity in the middle of chaos. I felt at peace, but there was a storm raging inside me, threatening to burst through my skin, another round of destruction.

Is this what war was like?

Is it silent coping?

Is it demolished hope and leveled cities?

Slowly, the low hum of cracked buildings and ruined dreams returned to my ears. A high-pitched whine rang through my skull joining a deafening scream. It was gut-wrenching to hear. The sound caused me to flinch, but the sound didn't stop.

I covered my ears trying to block it out, but the noise continued.

It was the sound of the universe splitting.

It was a symphony of tattered souls.

It was the music of devils.

It was the siren song of death.

It was me.

I tried to stop the sound but it continued. The Darkness fueling the sound my throat was making. I had no control of what my body was doing, I was merely a passenger, and my body was the vehicle. The Darkness was the driver.

I fought for control. I screamed at the Darkness, hoping that my threats would mean something. It continued to cause destruction around me.

The people that had pulled themselves of the ground were now being tortured by the monster I had become. I begged the Darkness to spare them, to let them live, to kill me instead, but it continued as if it didn't hear me. I reached for control only for it to be yanked out of my grasp.

I continued my pleas, hoping that I could change what was happening.

Suddenly everything was black. I felt strong arms around me, holding me up as I collapsed. I couldn't stop the tears and sobs that escaped me.

"It's alright, Roza." The man soothed, gently smoothing my hair away from my face. I looked up at him, trying to stop the tear long enough to ask how to stop it. "You have to control the Darkness. You can't let it control you."

I don't know how he knew what I was going to ask, but I knew that he understood the unspoken question. I knew what I had to do, but I didn't know how. The Darkness was already so strong. I don't know what fueled it and I didn't know how to destroy it.

"Think of me, Roza." He said. "Think of all that we could be, all we could have."

The problem was, I didn't know how this handsome man was. He looked familiar, and he showed me the vision where we were happy with a child, but I didn't know him in this moment. The vision me had called him 'Comrade,' but that probably wasn't his real name.

I focused on his face. His god-like face was looking deeply into my soul, begging me to fight. I didn't want to disappoint him. Even though I didn't know this man, I pictured a life with him. A beautiful baby boy in our arms, and another kicking in my stomach. I saw the adoration he held for me, the love he held for our children.

He had happiness in his eyes that wasn't in the eyes of the man before me. The man in front of me held concern, concern for me and our future.

A picture flashed behind my eyes. I was straddling the man before me in a bed, losing ourselves in kisses.

"Roza." He moaned.

Another picture of the man entering a room with a smile on his face.

"Good morning, Beautiful." He said. I released a sigh, this man knew me, but I had no recollection of him.

"I'm supposed to know you." I told him. I reached out to touch his face. There was stubble there that hadn't been present in any of the vision versions of him. I kind of liked it. "I can't remember your name, but I remember you."

"What do you remember about me, Roza?" He asked turning his head to give my palm a kiss.

"You're a great kisser, _that_ I remember." He chuckled but didn't say anything, so I continued. "I remember you taking care of me, protecting me." A few moments flashed again, I could see the look in his eyes each time. "You loved me."

"Not 'loved,' Roza." He said gently, shaking his head. "I love you. Always have, always will."

"Did I love you?" I asked trying to avoid his gaze, but he hooked a finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"You tell me. Remember your feelings." I remembered the feeling of his arms around me, the feeling of his arms around me now. I relished in the feeling, closing my eyes, begging my mind to remember this man.

The phantom feeling of a bed was under me, my eyes closed I sighed.

"Dimitri." I breathed out, smelling the scent of pine. My eyes flew open, both in the memory and in my mind. "Dimitri."

The man's eyes brightened.

"Dimitri." I whispered. My vision was flooded with memories of him and me. Tears welled in my eyes. I don't know how, but I had forgotten about the love of my life. "Dimitri, I love you."

"I love you, too, Roza." Dimitri breathed pulling me into his chest in relief. "Are you ready to fight?"

"I don't know how to fight this, Dimitri." I said, the tears falling.

"Focus on me. Focus on the love we have. Don't let yourself fall into anger and hatred. Think about your happiness, my happiness, our happiness, our love." He said, gently wiping the tears from my face. He pulled me closer to him, tucking my head to his chest. "Listen to my heartbeat. It beats for you, Roza. Fight this."

I closed my eyes, listening to the steady thumping of Dimitri's heart. I felt a calm spread through my body and my mind. I clutched Dimitri's shirt, unable to let him go. I needed him to help me fight this.

"That's it, Roza. You're fighting. The Darkness is retreating." Dimitri's low voice made his chest rumble in a soothing manner.

"Comrade, did I hurt someone?" I asked scared to hear the answer. His hesitation told me all I needed to know. "Who was it?"

"Victor." I curled up tighter into his arms, they tightened around me in response. I know that it was the Darkness that overtook me, but I didn't want to kill him. I wanted him to stop his crazy crusade, but I didn't want to kill him to do that. "As a Wielder of Death, you will have to deal with the damage you've caused. There's nothing I can say that will make it better. It just becomes a part of you. I'm sorry that you've had to go through this, but now you know what will happen if you let the Darkness get out of hand."

"How did you learn?" I asked quietly.

"I killed my father." He stated plainly. The hatred for his father could be heard in his voice, but I know that even if Dimitri hated his father, he didn't intend to kill him.

"I'm sorry." I said, not really know what else to say.

"It's alright. I can't take it back now, but I _can_ prevent myself from doing something like that again. You've always known me with my self-control, but there was a time where I wasn't so disciplined." He explained still stroking my hair. "I just don't want to see you torturing yourself over something you didn't have control of."

"I get what you're saying, Comrade." I said nodding into his chest. "I just need some time to wrap my head around all of it."

"Are you ready to go back?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"I think so." I said, standing to my feet, pulling him up with me. I wrapped my arms around his waist, squeezing him tight. "Thank you for pulling me back to myself."

"Anything for you, my Roza." He placed a kiss on my forehead before closing his eyes. I felt myself being drawn back into the present moment.

Looking around I was met with the wide eyes of all those in attendance. Robert was in the corner, lost to this world, still reeling from the sudden death of his brother. I didn't know how to help him. Tasha was slowly backing around from me.

"You monster. I should have known someone like you could never be considered human. All you Projects are dangerous. You deserve to be eradicated from this earth." I tried not to let her words get to me, but I felt myself getting worked up. I felt Dimitri's hand land softly on the small of my back, sending me reassuring and loving waves.

"I don't doubt that you believe that, Tasha, but that just means that you, too, should be taken with us. After all you are responsible for taking two lives, that we know of." I said, calm with Dimitri by my side.

"At least they deserved it." Tasha sneered.

"Are you saying that my parents deserved to die?" Christian asked, fists shaking by his sides.

"I'm saying that Victor didn't deserve it." Tasha said, backtracking slightly to avoid angering Christian. I could feel Tasha's fear of us. Now that Victor wasn't here to protect her, she started to protect herself.

"Just keep out of this, Tasha. We're freeing the Projects and now that Victor isn't here to run the program, we're going to get rid of it all together." I said, moving toward the door. I didn't really know what to do with her, but I was tired of being in the same room as her, hearing her voice, and pretending like it didn't annoy me as much as it did.

Dimitri and Mason followed closely after me, but Pavel and Christian stayed put. I didn't have a problem with it. I needed to get to work on destroying the records of anyone who'd ever come through this building and releasing anyone left that the other groups didn't get out.

"You handled that well, Roza." Dimitri said softly.

"Thanks, Comrade." I said, wandering the halls, finding no one, I started looking for the records room. "Do you have any idea where they would keep the records?"

"If it's anything like the compound in Pennsylvania, it'll be near the labs." Dimitri answered, taking the lead, snaking through the passages with purpose. "This is it."

I opened the door he'd gestured to, seeing the multiple filing cabinets. I took a deep breath, focusing on the flame that burned inside me. I released a spark, but it easily ignited, spreading through the flammable material, leaving ash in its wake. I watched as I caused the destruction, but this destruction was controlled.

When the room was completely disintegrated, I brought the fire back into me.

"What next?" I asked, turning back to Mason and Dimitri.

"I don't know. You're the one in charge here." Mason said shrugging. Dimitri nodded along in agreeance.

"Then I guess we should go back to the warehouse, but we need to get Pavel and Christian, first." I motioned for Dimitri to take the lead back to the room where we'd left them.

Dimitri started back the way we came, but he led us back much more efficiently. Pavel and Christian were just exiting the room when we came around the corner.

"Are you okay?" I asked Christian, he just nodded. I could feel Tasha was still alive, but she was definitely beyond angry.

"We left her chained to a chair, she's not going anywhere anytime soon." Pavel said, electing to tell us the state of Tasha's well-being. "But we should probably leave anyway. I don't really feel like hearing her voice anymore." I let out a laugh but extended my hands to start teleporting.

"Rosemarie!" I heard my mother exclaim when we'd safely materialized in the warehouse. "Thank God, you're okay!"

Before I could respond to her, I was swept up into a hug by my mother. It was awkward considering she was half a foot shorter than me, but she managed it nonetheless.

"It's good to see you again, Mom." I said hugging her back fiercely. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, my sweet girl." She said, pulling back to look at me.

"I've missed you both." Abe said from behind me. He was eyeing my mother very intently. "However, I do believe you have some explaining to do."


	27. Chapter 27

After my mother had finished explaining herself to Abe for the fifth time, he finally seemed to understand the reason as to why she'd left. I didn't really need her to explain to me why she left in order to understand her reasoning, though it did help a little.

She left because she knew it was going to help.

I was destined to help all the Spiriteds, and that's what I've done. At least, in this compound and back at the Academy. I have a few more to hit before I really fulfill my destiny, but I knew I was heading in the right direction. I was one step closer to Spirited liberation.

Mom's leaving had kickstarted a chain of events that led us to this point in time. If she hadn't left, I would probably be hiding in Russia somewhere, much like now, but without ever having been captured by Guardians. I knew that my mother and father would have prevented my capture and protected me.

If Mom hadn't left, we never would have been living and hiding in the States, and I never would have been taken. If I hadn't been taken, I never would have ended up in The Academy. I never would have met Dimitri, and I never would have figured out what Victor's plan was. I knew Mom had known that her leaving Abe in Russia and "dying" when I was captured would be integral parts of the string of events that had led us to this moment.

"What do we do now?" Adrian asked. We'd settled all the escaped Projects and relayed the events of each group. Mom had explained her tale, five times, and we were gathered around the center of the building, tired and sleeping Projects littered the space all around us.

"I'm not really sure. I was hoping that you guys would have an idea." I asked, looking around the group. Christian was looking a little dejected, but there was no regret in his eyes. He knew what he had done, and he knew he needed to do it. Lissa was happy to have Christian back and was diligently tending to his emotional state. The other couples had been animatedly telling their significant others the overdramatized version of events, but were now looking between Abe and me, waiting for a decision to be made.

"We'll do whatever you think is best, Kiz." Abe said, sliding his hand in Mom's as a show of unity. Mom smiled over at Abe, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before focusing her attention back on me. I smiled, knowing that even after almost nineteen years, their love survived without hard feelings.

Speaking of love, Dimitri had been glued to my side, never once letting me stray more than a few inches from his reach. If I moved, he moved. I knew he was still a little shaken that the Darkness had taken a hold on me, and I was, too, but I was trying my best to be strong for him. While I'd never meant to kill Victor, I did know it wasn't my fault, well, not exactly. It was the Darkness. I didn't know how to control it yet, but I would be working on it when I got the chance.

I knew Dimitri was keeping a close watch on my emotions and making sure, if I felt even the least bit down about what happened, he reminded me that it wasn't my fault. I also knew that he was scared that I might be lost to the Darkness completely, considering I'd come very close in the compound. He had a constant hum of worry coming from him, and I don't think anything I said or did would make it go away.

"Well, I suppose we should start evacuating the other compounds, right? And then talk to someone about the Project Program, about making it disappear." I said with a shrug. I would gladly take suggestions or for someone to say my plan was flawed.

"What are the Projects going to do?" Mom asked.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows together in confusion.

"I mean, most of these people have been uprooted from their home. Despite what the compound was used for, that's the only place most had called home since their powers unveiled themselves to them. When they were captured, their loved ones were informed that they are dangerous and to be turned in to authorities should they ever escape and try to contact them.

"Even if they found a way back to their families, and they were willing to take them in, these people could never have jobs. Their names are flagged by a system every time a background check is run. It takes connections and money to get fake documentation, and if by some miracle they got one, most of their abilities are hard to control on a normal day to day basis." Mom explained, looking around the building. "They wouldn't be able to survive without exposing someone to their abilities. While we might be able to get the Project Program disassembled, that will take time, and we don't want to put these people at risk."

"So how do we help them?" I asked. I hadn't even thought about what the other Projects would do. I have a family to go home to, and by default, so did my friends. Dimitri would keep me hidden from anyone trying to harm me, and our abilities could be masked.

"We should probably leave the other compounds alone until we decide where the Spiriteds are going." Abe said, pulling Mom closer to him.

"Which compound is the largest?" I asked after a moment of thought.

"The one we just raided and the one in Montana are about the same size, but larger than the others." Adrian supplied. "Why do you ask?"

"What if we transformed one of the compounds into a place for the Spirited to live?" I suggested. "There's plenty of room, no one would have to share a room. We'd obviously need some assistance from a government entity, but the remaining Spiriteds could work in the compound doing everyday jobs."

"So, what you're suggesting is like the X-Men?" Mason offered. His eyes shone in recognition and excitement.

"Kind of. In the sense that it's a safe place for Spiriteds to live and reside, but not in the sense that it's a school for us. More the purpose of our compound would be to create an environment when it's safe for us to coexist with each other and not have to worry about outsiders judging us or using us for our abilities."

"Who do we talk to in order to get that accomplished?" Lissa asked, trying to see the logistical side of things before definite plans were made.

"In the States it would be the Secretary of the Department of Defense, that's who's in charge of the Project Program." Abe informed us. "I'm sure the same goes for here in Russia."

"Who's the Secretary of the DOD?"

"At the moment? Hans Croft."

"Cool. Do you know what he looks like?" I asked, rubbing my hands together, ready to get a move on.

"Yes, but I don't think just teleporting directly into the DOD would be a great idea." Abe said with a smirk. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I don't think that would be the best solution to keep us alive."

"Oh, right." I mumbled, Dimitri chuckled beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer and placing a kiss on my forehead.

"How about we talk to Tatiana and see if she could set up an appointment with Secretary Croft." Dimitri suggested. "We'll need to inform her that Victor is dead, anyway."

"So, what do we do in the meantime?" I asked. "I don't think we can leave all these people here to fend for themselves, and we don't know how long it will take to get a meeting with Croft. I would assume he is a busy man. I also don't like the prospect of leaving other Spiriteds in the hands of Guardians. I know we can't shut down the other compounds, but is there a way to make them more hospitable to the Spiriteds currently residing in them?"

"We should probably move these people back to the compound and do exactly what you suggested, Kiz. I agree, it will take some time, but there's nowhere else for these people to go. We move them back to the compound, they start jobs, perhaps some of their abilities would be useful in a specific field." Abe said. "As for the other compounds, when we get word to Tatiana, we'll make sure the Guardians at each one are handled with care, and the Projects residing there treated properly."

"Alright, I think that's a good idea." I said, stifling a yawn. "I know we probably have a lot of work to do to get all of that accomplished, but do you think we could do it after a nap?"

"I think you deserve more than just a nap. Sleep as long as you'd like." Abe chuckled. "I think saving the rest of the world can wait until you're fully rested."

I smiled at him, and turned to find a suitable spot to lay down for a little bit. After locating an isolated, or as isolated as I was going to get in the crowded building, spot, I grabbed Dimitri's hand and pulled him along with me.

Just like before the raid, Dimitri spread out his coat for us to sleep on, and situated himself before he beckoned for me to join him. I snuggled up to his chest, calmed by his presence, or maybe it was actually him doing the calming. Either way, I was calm. I felt reassured by the steady drumming of his heart and the rhythmic pattern of his chest rising and falling.

"I love you, Roza. I'm so proud of you." He said, lightly kissing my forehead, his lips were warm and gentle. I looked up into his brown eyes and saw pure happiness.

"I love you, too, Comrade. I can't thank you enough for saving me from myself."

"You don't have to thank me. I love you, and I won't lose you, not to Darkness, not to Death, not to anything, and especially not to anyone." He growled the last part. "Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me." He finished by pulling me even closer to his body.

"Trust me, I like it." I said, kissing the underside of his jaw before settling back down. My body was tired, but my mind was racing. I tried not to think of all the possibilities the coming change could have for Spiriteds. It wasn't like we weren't feared. Most of the population didn't know about us, and I have a feeling that if we came out into the light, it could get messy.

If we could convince Croft to let us exist separate from the rest of the human population and live within our own communities, there wouldn't be a need to reveal our secrets to the world. Setting up a few compounds or cities that were off the grid would allow us a safe place to live. We'd have to have a connection to the rest of the world, but we wouldn't need to live in it directly.

"Stop thinking, Roza, and sleep." Dimitri mumbled running his fingers through my hair. "I can't sleep if your thoughts keep getting louder."

"I'm sorry, Comrade. I'll try to keep my thoughts to myself."

"You don't have to keep _all_ your thoughts to yourself." Dimitri said before I saw the memory of us in bed together at my father's house.

"I thought you wanted to sleep." I smirked. Lifting myself up on one elbow, I looked down at him.

"I did, but then I thought of you, and suddenly I'm not tired anymore." I laughed at his words.

"While I'd love to continue where that morning was heading, there are a lot of people in this room, including my parents. I'm sure my mother is fine with you, but I'm not too sure about my father. I think it's best we wait until we're in a room to ourselves."

"Promise?" He asked, hope and lust flashing in his eyes.

"I promise." I said, leaning down to place a soft kiss on his lips. Before he could deepen it, I pulled back and settled myself, once more, onto his chest. "Now sleep."

"Yes, ma'am." He said, amusement in his voice. His arms tightened around me, securing me into place. I closed my eyes and forced my thoughts to remain quiet. My body soon took over and dragged my mind into a deep and peaceful sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

So, yes. The Secretary of the Department of Defense was a very busy man. It'd been three weeks since we'd arranged for Tatiana to get us a meeting. We'd moved all the Projects we'd recently removed from the compound in Russia back into the compound in Russia. There were a few grumblings but most were thrilled to return home with the prospect of no Guardians.

Abe had taken charge and organized jobs for each Project. When it was possible, he would incorporate the Project's ability into the job. Mom had stayed to help him, which was beneficial considering she knew all of the Projects so she could relate to them on more of a personal level.

Dimitri had begged me to take him back to Baia so he could visit his family. I knew I could never resist those pleading eyes. Plus, Rosie was bugging me about it, too. Apparently, she wanted to chat more with Yeva. The crazy old woman had made an impression, and Rosie was dying to get to know her more. I was all too happy to comply as long as she would stop bugging me.

Speaking of Rosie, I never really got to hear about her and Rosemarie's adventures in the compound, and they both were keeping it hidden from me. I was curious but not curious enough to ask them about it. Perhaps I could ask Dimitri. I'm sure that Big D would have been talking nonstop, and Dimka could be persuaded easily.

We'd spent almost two weeks in Dimitri's home. I got to spend a lot more time with Olena and Yeva, and Dimitri got to spend more time with his niece and nephew. Viktoria came home with us, Olena giving her a stern talking to for running off from her school to join our crusade. Yeva scoffed at Olena's parenting, citing that "it needed to be done."

When Dimitri wasn't playing with the kids and I wasn't chatting with his mother and grandmother, we sat outside, enjoying the sun. As a Guardian, Dimitri had more liberties than I did at the Academy, like going outside. I, however, had been missing the sun for two years. Because of my heritage, I had maintained my tanned complexion, but it lacked the fresh sun-kissed aspect.

We'd spent at least an hour in the sun every day. I'd bought a bikini and would lie in the yard soaking up the rays. Dimitri would usually lay beside me shirtless, otherwise, he'd sit in the shade of the porch and we'd just talk. Now that we were out of the Academy, he'd started thinking about what he was going to do for a job. He wanted to stay with me, but I didn't know what I wanted to do, yet.

I was thinking about taking some online classes, earning a degree. That would give me more options, but I, again, didn't know what I wanted to do. Dimitri and I were both such intelligent people, but we hadn't had a chance to go to college. Hell, I didn't have the chance to finish high school. I could see Dimitri being a doctor, probably a neurosurgeon. The thought of him in a lab coat and scrubs was enticing. Maybe I could be a doctor. I liked the thought of helping people, but I didn't like all the rules that I'd inevitably have to follow.

"What are you thinking about, Roza?" Dimitri asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Just what we're going to be doing with the rest of our lives," I said, turning my gaze away from the passing clouds to the man seated beside me. Abe had arranged for us to travel by plane back to the States, and then a car would pick us up from the airport outside of D.C. and transport us to the DOD.

"I've been thinking about that, too. How would you feel about me becoming a surgeon?" He asked, and a grin broke out across my face.

"I think that'd be a fantastic idea, Comrade. I can just see it now. Dr. Belikov walking down the hallway, causing the female nurses to go into cardiac arrest…" I laughed as he rolled his eyes. "But seriously, I think that would be a great option for you."

"Perhaps you could become a nurse? We could be like the 'Dream Team.' There wouldn't be anything we couldn't do, especially with our abilities." I nodded along, contemplating if I could actually be a nurse and not get into too much trouble. I've heard lawsuits aren't fun.

"I think I might be able to do that, but you'd have to keep me out of trouble," I responded. "However, I think we should talk to Croft before making any definite plans. If he says that we should stay out of the public altogether, then we won't be able to go to school."

"I suppose you're right, but I'm sure we could be persuasive."

"Well, _I_ can be persuasive, _you_ can be a little scary at times, which is kind of like the same thing," I said with a thoughtful look on my face. Dimitri narrowed his eyes at me, and I started laughing. He let out an exasperated sigh.

"What am I going to do with you…?" He mumbled under his breath, but I still heard him.

"What to do with me remains to be seen," I answered enigmatically. Maybe Yeva really was growing on me. Just as Dimitri had rolled his eyes a second time, the pilot informed us of our approaching descent.

I felt my stomach twist into knots and it had nothing to do with the descending plane. I was suddenly very nervous about our meeting. What if Secretary Croft didn't think any of our ideas were good and kept the Guardian Program in place? What if he captured us all again and put us back in a compound? I don't think I could do another day of living in a compound surrounded by Guardians.

"It's going to be alright, Roza. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Dimitri promised, taking my hand in his and giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

"I know, Comrade. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, either. Remember, you're stuck with me." I said, giving his hand a squeeze back.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." He said just as the wheels touched down, and we started slowing down. The plane taxied to a private terminal, and before too long the door was opened, and we were allowed to leave the plane.

Walking down the stairs onto the tarmac, I could see a few cars waiting for us a couple dozen yards away. Men stood in a relaxed stance, glancing at their surroundings in a calculating manner. These men seemed to be trained as Guardians, but they lacked the appropriate attire. The Guardians at the Academy wore all black, these men were dressed in suits, but the material appeared to be tailored toward movement and fighting.

I half expected them all to be wearing black aviators, with white spiraling earpieces, and speaking into the microphone in their jacket cuff. However, all the men wore pleasant smiles as we approached them. One stepped forward to begin introductions.

"Welcome back to the States." He began sticking out his hand for me to shake. I'd been leading the group, so he'd taken me as the one in charge, which I suppose I was. "I'm Lee Masters. I'll be in charge of seeing you safely into the DOD."

When I grasped his hand, I felt something that shocked me. Well, not shocked, but I felt the Buzz. I couldn't help the gasp that escaped me, and I felt Dimitri tense behind me, ready to attack Lee at any moment.

"Calm down, Comrade. He's a Spirited." I said quietly, never taking my gaze off Lee. To say he looked shocked was an understatement. First, he looked shocked as all get out, but then his shock morphed into fear.

"How did you know?" He asked in a low voice, looking around to make sure none of his colleagues heard me.

"It's one of my gifts to be able to know when someone else is gifted," I responded before searching deeper into Lee's Spirit. "I'm assuming that you're a human lie detector. That would come in very handy in your line of work, would it not?"

"It has been useful on many occasions, yes." He answered, looking a little less fearful.

"Don't worry, Lee. I'm not going to tell anyone your secret. If this meeting goes as planned, maybe you won't have to hide in fear anymore."

"Well, let's hope it goes as planned, then." He said with his smile back on his face. He motioned for us to follow him back to the cars. Only Dimitri, Abe and I would be going into this meeting with Secretary Croft. The rest of the gang would be taken back to a hotel to await any decisions that are going to be made.

Lee opened the back door of the middle car and waited for Abe and Dimitri to crawl in.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I didn't actually get your name, and I'm just assuming his name isn't 'Comrade.'" Lee said, gesturing toward Dimitri, and I laughed.

"I'm sorry, Lee. I'm Rose. That's Dimitri, and the scary old guy is Abe." I stuck my hand out again for my formal introduction.

"It's a pleasure, Rose," Lee said with a smile. I heard Dimitri growl from inside the car, and it was quickly followed by Abe's chuckle.

I climbed into the car, and Lee closed the door behind me and made his way to the driver's seat. I'd placed myself in the spot next to Dimitri, and he'd thrown an arm possessively across my shoulder. I caught Lee's surprised look in the rearview mirror, but he quickly replaced it with an easy grin.

"It might take us a while to get to the building, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride," Lee instructed before pulling away from the tarmac and out the gates that enclosed the airstrip.

I held Dimitri's hand in mine and watched as the landscape transitioned from lush suburbs to urban concrete. The road system was a tangled mess, and how Lee navigated it told me that he'd lived here for quite some time. Traffic wasn't that bad until we hit the city. Despite the heavy traffic, the noise level wasn't that bad. I was expecting to hear more horns blaring and more people shouting obscenities, but I was surprised to find that a rarity.

Dimitri had stayed silent throughout the ride. The arm the was thrown over my shoulders had bent and started playing with my hair about halfway through the trip, while the one I held in mine was rubbing circles on the back of my hand with its thumb.

I felt at peace, as I usually did with Dimitri, but I knew that no matter what happened in this meeting, we would remain together. Nothing was going to tear us apart.

We'd taken an exit and I was surprised to see the urban mess fading back into suburban neighborhoods. We approached a gated community and without much fuss, we passed through. I had no idea that such an important building was located in the middle of neighborhoods, but I guess not many people would think that either.

There was nothing unique about the building. It was a shiny sort of grey with the name of the building carved into the side. There was a monument of sorts on the wall near the entrance, but I couldn't make out what it was.

"Welcome to the DOD," Lee said from the driver's seat. He'd parked the car and made his way over to the door to let us out. I could see people bustling in and out of the building but it wasn't as busy as I would have thought a government building would be.

We entered the building and were quickly moved through the passageway into a smaller conference room.

"We're a bit early, so you'll have to wait a little while before Secretary Croft gets here. There are refreshments over there, but if you need to leave for any reason, please inform the person outside the door. He'll contact me and I'll come back to collect you."

We all nodded, and I thanked him before he left the room. Abe sat at one end of the table, and I sat across from him, but Dimitri began pacing. I didn't know how long we were going to have to wait, but if he kept this up, it was going to feel like forever.


	29. Chapter 29

"Please, take a seat." A man said, entering the room with a few files in his hands.

The man, I'm assuming was Hans Croft, immediately sat at the head of the table on the opposite side from where Abe and I were seated. Secretary Croft was probably in his mid-fifties, and his face showed his age and the stress of his job. Dimitri paused in his pacing and hesitated before sitting down next to me.

"Secretary Croft?" I asked hesitantly.

"Please, call me Hans." He said with a pleasant smile. "I've been told you want to have a chat about the Project and Guardian Programs. Is that right?"

"Yes, that's right," Abe said. "My name is Abe Mazur. This is my daughter Rosemarie Hathaway and her partner Dimitri Belikov. We need to inform you that the man behind the two programs is dead. We've come to see whether the Programs could be ended."

"Dead? Ended?" Hans asked looking confused. His eyes darted between the three of us, and I couldn't help but shift uncomfortably under his stern gaze.

"Yes," Abe said plainly.

"Victor Dashkov is dead?" He asked again.

"Yes," Abe said, his voice gaining a little irritation from the repetition.

"How?"

"I killed him," I said quietly, but the sound reached him. Hans' eyes snapped toward me. For the first time since entering the room, he studied me.

"You _killed_ Victor Dashkov?"

"Yes," I said glancing nervously at Abe. "It was an accident. I'd developed a new ability that I didn't know how to control, and he ended up dead."

"You're a Project!?" He exclaimed, backing away from the table slightly, but he didn't run for the door, which was a good sign.

"Yes. I'm Project X, from the D.C. compound."

"The one that was destroyed?" He asked cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"I'm also the one to blame for that," I mumbled looking down at my hands.

"Before we get too off topic here." Abe cut in. "We do need to talk to you about disbanding the Project Programs. Victor Dashkov's motives were not pure, though, his intentions might have seemed so."

"What do you mean?" Hans asked still eyeing me with disbelief.

"Dashkov was using the compounds of Spiriteds to help himself. He'd figured out how to borrow an ability from a Spirited and raise an army of the dead. He was currently looking for a Project that could make him younger, healthier. We don't know what he was going to use the undead for, but I can't imagine that it would've been all sunshine and roses."

"So? What if his intentions weren't what we thought they were, isolating Spiriteds from the greater population is a good thing." Hans said, leaning back in his chair, he seemed to be unconcerned about Victor's motives. "I'm not disbanding that program just because its founder is corrupt."

"We're not asking you to release Spiriteds into the world," I said. "We're asking for more freedom, to live in the compounds without being fearful of the Guardians or scared of what we are."

"So, you're wanting to live in the compounds?" He asked a little shocked.

"Yes. Well, for the most part. We'd like to get the government's assistance in helping us live in the compounds with as much self-sufficience as possible. I'd also like to talk to you about developing a test for those of us that would be able to mesh with the greater population without risk of exposure or harm."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, some of us have special abilities that could be beneficial to your world, not just ours. Most of the Spiriteds that can control their powers are extremely intelligent. I have telekinesis, which would allow me to move things that normal human beings wouldn't be able to. I'd like to pursue a career in medicine. Dimitri was thinking about becoming a doctor. The two of us working together would be able to operate on the more difficult patients with success."

"But with that same power to help people, you'd have the ability to hurt people, too." Hans countered.

"That's why I'm asking you to create a procedure for us to complete. Whether it's yearly psychological evaluations or constant surveillance, I want to be able to live a normal life. Well, semi-normal." I told him. "Most Spiriteds won't want to leave the compounds because that's been their home for so long, but some of us lived on the outside for so long that it's hard to adapt to an isolated lifestyle."

"So, what were you hoping?"

"We want to move the remaining Projects into the two biggest compounds: the one in Montana and the one near Novosibirsk in Russia. We're wanting help turning those compounds into small towns for those that are there to run and live in. For those that pass whatever tests you decide to run, we'll consent to having whoever following us just to make sure we're following the rules you most-likely will set forth."

"And other than the ones wanting to blend with the greater population, you'll stay in the compounds?" I nodded. "I think we can work something out. I'll probably have to add a clause to the conditions of your 'normal' life. If need be, the government will be able to call on you and you will help us with whatever we need your help with."

"What kind of things would you need help with?" I asked cautiously.

"It shouldn't be anything illegal, but I'm not at liberty to give any specific details." He said evasively.

"So, unless it's absolutely necessary for the survival of our government, you won't interfere with our lives?" I asked looking to Dimitri to clarify that we'd both got the same message.

"That's right. I'll still be keeping an eye on you, and we'd like to have a choice in where you decide to settle down. We'd want it to be somewhere out of the way, without too many neighbors around."

"I've got a place where they will be staying. It's in Pennsylvania, I'll give you the address when we're through here so you can thoroughly investigate it yourself, though I'm sure it'll pass inspection." Abe told Hans while simultaneously giving Dimitri and I a place to live.

"Your house would be, what, an hour and a half drive to Johns Hopkins?" I asked, already planning our lives in the greater population. I hope Dimitri was alright with Johns Hopkins because there was no way I was settling for anything less than the best.

"Johns Hopkins, Roza? Really?" Dimitri asked with a smirk.

"I know you can do it. You might have to help me a little, but I'm sure I'll manage." I said happily.

"Well, I'll start working on getting a test ready to certify that you're able to be out in the greater population, going to school and such. I'll see what I can do about getting you into Johns Hopkins. You both seem like nice people, and I can see how much this means to you. I don't believe you're a danger to society, but I don't think the greater population needs to find out about you just yet. It probably won't happen in either of our lifetimes, but I can see a world where Spiriteds are accepted."

"No offense, but I honestly thought that you were going to be a lot harder to convince…" I said eyeing him warily, but he just chuckled and leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed for the first time this entire meeting.

"Ms. Hathaway, I have relatives that are Spirited. They fell on the crazy spectrum, but I didn't think they were bad people. Being Spirited is a lot more common than everyone thinks, most live in society already and blend well. I know I have a few in my staff, but I don't want to single them out or acknowledge that I know what they are because I don't want them to be scared to live a normal life." I stared at him in shock. If he was alright with Spiriteds, why did he allow the Project Program in the first place?

"The Project Program started as a way to remove dangerous Spiriteds from the greater population, but Victor morphed it into what you know it as. I was actually working on a way to get it disbanded, but you seem to have found a solution, which I quite like."

"Huh…did not see that one coming," I mumbled more to myself than anything, but Dimitri chuckled lightly anyway.

"Don't worry. I'm going to help you as much as I can." That said, Hans stood and moved toward us. As one, the three of us stood, waiting to see what he did. He first shook Abe's and Dimitri's hands before turning to me. "It took a lot of guts to come in here and confess to murder and reveal that you were the Spirited that took down an entire complex. It was stupid, but I kind of like it." I tensed, waiting for him to arrest me, or shoot me, but neither happened. "I'd like to keep in touch with you, Ms. Hathaway. I feel like we could be great friends. I would be more than willing to help you wherever I can."

I was shocked, to say the least, and became even more shocked when he hesitantly reached out and pulled me into an awkward embrace. When the encounter was over, he pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Please, don't hesitate to reach out to me. If you have any ideas about how to better your people, let me know." He nodded sharply to Abe and Dimitri and gave me a small smile before exiting the room. I stared after him, still shocked by his actions.

"Well, that went a lot better than I had expected," Abe said looking pleased with himself like he'd been the one to make it all happen. I rolled my eyes but didn't respond. I started toward the door, hoping to find Lee outside the door.

When I stuck my head out the door, I didn't find Lee but a very large male with a stern look on his face. His head and eyes slowly turned to look at me questioningly.

"May I help you?" He asked in a deep, serious tone.

"Um…could you find Agent Masters? We're ready to leave." I said shyly. I felt Dimitri move closer to the door when he sensed my unease. It wasn't that I was scared of the man. I could easily have taken him, but I didn't want to jeopardize any progress I might have made with Hans.

"Certainly." Was his response. He spoke quietly into his cuff, ah, there it was. "He's on his way."

"Thank you," I said and stepped back into the conference room. "So, what are we going to do after getting out of here?" I asked Abe. Dimitri looked expectedly toward him, too.

"We could go back to Russia and collect the others, or we could send a jet to meet them and they can meet us at the house in Pennsylvania." Abe offered.

"Let's have them meet us at the house in Pennsylvania. Dimitri and I can start looking into the application process to Johns." I said excitedly. Dimitri chuckled at my enthusiasm, but I knew he was just as excited as I was.

"As long as you two are ready to start the rest of your lives," Abe said.

"I'm ready. Are you ready, Comrade?"

"As long as I'm with you, I'm ready for anything." He said pulling me closer and lightly kissing my lips.

"That was cheesy…"

"You know you love it." He chuckled as he kissed my nose.

"I'm not so sure, but I know I love you."

"I love you, too, Roza."

"Enough you two," Abe said gently. He might have started out despising Dimitri because he was dating me, but now I don't think Abe would approve of anyone else. Dimitri was perfect for me, and I for him. "Let's go home."


	30. Chapter 30

**Two Years Later**

"I still don't see how you finished med school in two years," Christian grumbled from his place beside Lissa. We were all sitting in a little café close to campus. It was the weekend after Dimitri and I had graduated, and we were celebrating with large cups of strong coffee.

"It's called hard work and dedication," I said proudly.

"I'm pretty sure you cheated a few times, Roza," Dimitri said in amusement.

"We both know I wasn't the only one, Comrade." I pointed out.

"I suppose you're right, but I'm blaming Big D. He's a bad influence and convinced me to stay in bed with you while we sent Dimka and Rosemarie to class."

"And you actually listened to him?" I teased. "At least I'm done and can start looking for an internship and residency, you still have to go specialize."

"We all know you weren't patient enough to specialize," Christian said, and I glared at him.

"You didn't specialize because you wanted to be able to help all over the hospital. That's understandable, Roza. I know that I want to work with the brain, so I'm going to specialize. That doesn't mean we won't be the best pair of doctors around when it's all said and done." Dimitri soothed, draping an arm around me.

I sighed contently. The last two years had been like a dream. Hans had come through and created a test that we had to complete and pass before being released completely into the greater population. Dimitri and I were the first ones out, followed closely by Lissa and Christian. Mason and Mia had decided to stay in the compound in Montana, and Eddie was still trying to convince Jill to join him in the real world.

Lissa was in her third semester of college and was planning on taking summer classes to graduate early. She's pursuing a degree in Political Science, claiming she wants to change our government for the better. Christian didn't want to go to a normal college and enrolled in culinary classes, instead. He is now interning at one of the best restaurants in Boston, _Mistral_. He's already gotten a job offer from them when he finishes in internship and from several others around the area.

When Mom had moved in with Abe, and we moved out, not because Mom was there, but because we needed a space of our own. Dimitri and I owned a two-bedroom apartment close to campus that Abe had insisted paying for. We let him pay for the apartment, but we drew the line at letting him pay for the furnishings.

Halfway through our schooling, Dimitri had proposed, but I told him I'd only accept if we waited to get married. I wanted us both to be completely done with school before we got married, and that included internships and residencies. I did _not_ want to start a marriage off with sleep-deprived nights and grumpy moods.

So, we've been engaged for a year and are looking at another five or six before we actually get married. Dimitri said he'd be willing to wait a lifetime as long as we got married at some point before he died.

"Where are you thinking about doing your residency?" Lissa asked.

"I have the option to do it at Johns Hopkins Hospital because of how well I did in their program, but I'm not sure if I want to do another three years there. I was thinking about George Washington University Hospital in D.C." I said, looking over at Dimitri to see if he'd like the idea.

"It's a little further away than I'd like you, but I'm sure I'll live," Dimitri said giving me a soft kiss. "Plus, I hear some of George Washington's residency programs are actually partnered with Johns Hopkins, so maybe I'll see you around." He said with a wink.

"I have to get into one of them, first, Comrade."

"You won't have to worry about getting into either." A voice said from behind us. We all turned to look and found Hans Croft sitting at the table behind us with Lee and two other agents.

"What do you mean, sir?" I asked a little hesitantly. Did he decide that we were going to be allowed to live in the greater population?

"Don't worry, Rose. I'm not going to force you into isolation. I'm here to tell you that you won't be doing a residency at any hospital. You'll be interning with specific individuals within our government. You'll be working in conjunction with the CIA, FBI, DEA, Homeland Security, and, of course, the DOD. They're going to get you ready for everything and anything." He told me. Dimitri stiffened beside me.

"Belikov, calm down, we aren't taking her from you," Lee said soothingly, but Dimitri didn't relax by much.

"You, too, will be going through this program but we are making sure that it's tailored toward neurology for you," Hans stated. "Along with your medical studies, you'll be trained as a field agent. For lack of a better term, you'll be a sleeper agent: living your life as normally as possible until we need your help."

"So, we're going to have to move?" I asked.

"Yes. You'll be moved into a house on the outskirts of D.C., but it will still be isolated enough to where you can train and be yourselves without anyone else observing." Lee said with an excited smile. "The only people that will be living close to you will be other agents who will know about you, so you don't have to worry either way."

"Training will only be during the week; your weekends are free to use as you see fit," Hans said kindly. "We expect you to be ready to move in a month. We'll give you another month to move in and settle, then we'll start training in mid-August."

"I think I can live with that," I said. "At least I don't have to fill out several applications, now." Dimitri shook his head at me in amusement.

"I think that would be good for both of us." He said to me before turning to Hans. "I guess we'll see you in a few months?" Hans nodded and stood, followed by the agents seated at his table.

"As always, don't hesitate to reach out to me or the agency. It's always a pleasure working with you." He shook our hands and nodded toward Lissa and Christian who'd sat stunned through the entire encounter. We stayed quiet until they'd left the café altogether.

"Well, that was unexpected," Lissa said breaking the silence.

"I'll say," I muttered quietly.

"Are you okay with this, Roza?" Dimitri asked softly. "We can figure something out if you aren't okay with this arrangement."

"Are you kidding? I could get to carry a gun! Of course, I'm okay with this!" The concern Dimitri held in his eyes vanished completely and was replaced with exasperation.

"Only you, Roza…" Dimitri said rubbing his brow.

"Are you okay with this, Comrade?"

"I'm okay with this as long as you're okay with this. This arrangement puts us in the same house, in the same city, and on the same path. We won't be separated for weeks at a time. We'll get done with schooling at the same time. We'll be partners."

"We already are partners, babe." I reminded him.

"Yes, but we will also be partners in jobs too. I'm sure that we could convince Hans to talk a hospital into taking us both as a team."

"I think that would be the best thing for us," I said taking his hand in mine. "I had hated the idea of having to leave you alone for weeks at a time while I was on numerous 72-hour shifts."

"Trust me, I also hated that thought, too." He said sweetly, leaning down and kissing my lips.

"You two disgust me," Christian mumbled under his breath, but he didn't say it quietly enough.

"You want to say that again, Fire Crotch?" I asked glaring at him.

"You two are the most adorable thing ever." He said with a fake smile.

"Mhmm…That's what I thought." I said still glaring. "What are you two going to do?"

"We're not really sure. There's a lot of paperwork to fill out in order for us to travel, but we're still thinking about doing it anyway. Christian is eager to get out of the kitchen and I'm not going to complain if I can get away from the textbooks for a while, too."

"Where will you guys go?" I asked, cuddling down into Dimitri's side.

"We were thinking of a cruise around the Mediterranean and seeing all the countries that border it."

"That sounds super fun!" I said. "This is going to be so weird, being apart from each other for so long."

"I'm sure you could spare a weekend and come find us," Lissa said while rolling her eyes.

"Yes, but isn't that cheating?"

"So, you'd rather go months without seeing us?" Her face fell a little but I could see she was teasing. She knew there was no way that I wasn't going to see her at least once a month. I wasn't going to go every weekend because I wanted those to mainly be alone time for Dimitri and me.

"I'll go to see you, not him," I said, jerking a thumb in Christian's direction.

"Hey!"

"Oh, I don't care about him, I only want you to come see me. We can ditch him if you want to." Lissa said, ignoring Christian's exclamation and hurt look.

"Deal," I said with an outstretched hand. Dimitri only chuckled as Lissa and I shook on it. He turned his head and kissed my temple.

"Are you ready to go, Beautiful?" He whispered in my ear huskily.

"Ready if you are."

"Trust me, I'm ready."

"Then let's go," I said, making a move to stand. "We'll see you guys again before you leave, right?"

"Absolutely. It probably won't be for another couple of weeks, but I'll be sure to let you know when we set a date." Both Lissa and Christian stood, Lissa gave me a hug, and Christian shook Dimitri's hand in a very manly way.

"Bye, Liss!"

"Bye, Rose!"

Dimitri placed a hand on my lower back and guided me out of the café, scanning the area as we went. He'd become extremely protective of me as soon as the engagement ring circled my finger. He stated that he wasn't going to let anything happen to me before we got married. I'd asked him about after marriage, and he said he'd "think about it."

"I guess we have to start packing, now," Dimitri said when we'd gotten safely in the car.

"Yeah, but this time we'll have a lot more stuff to move," I said laughing.

"And you're absolutely sure about all of this?"

"I'm sure. This offer honestly seems too good to be true, but I'm not going to waste my time arguing about it."

"I love you, Roza. I just want to make sure you're happy."

"I'm happy, Comrade. _You_ make me happy. I wouldn't be happy with this unless you were coming with me, and since you are, I'm happy. That is if you're happy."

"I'm happy." He said with a smile.

"Then I'm happy. We're both happy." I said taking his hand in mine as he drove us to our apartment. There would be a lot of work to do, but I was looking forward to relaxing with him for a few days before starting in on packing and such.

"I think that the next few years will be interesting, but I'm looking forward to the rest of our lives. Perhaps this way we'll be married sooner than you thought." I laughed at his not so subtle impatience. "I meant it when I said I'd be willing to wait my entire life to make you my wife, but I kind of want you to be my wife sooner rather than later. That way, I can say I've spent the majority of my life married to the most exquisite woman to ever exist."

"Well, aren't you a sweet talker," I said in a sweet voice. "But you are still going to have to wait until we get out of whatever program Croft is throwing us into."

"Yes, dear. As long as you still want to marry me. You do still want to marry me, right?" He asked taking his eyes off the road for a second to glance worriedly at me.

"Don't worry, Comrade. I still want to marry you." I said giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Good." He said. We fell into a comfortable silence. Dimitri drove the rest of the way back home with a small smile on his face, and I found myself smiling with him.

I couldn't wait for the rest of our lives.

* * *

 _This is the end. I'm sad that this is over, but also happy that I made it through. Let me know what you all think and I'll see you in the next one!_

 _~Victoria_


End file.
